Come What May
by Forgotten Butterfly
Summary: Sakura and Syaoran are more confused than ever about their feelings for eachother. Sakura still loves Yukito, but she's alone now, and maybe the person she needs most is in fact the one she hates most, Li Syaoran.
1. Unbearable Truth

AN: Hiya! This story is not in sync with the CCS plot. No magic, no sexy yue, and no flying teddy bears. It's only focus is the romance and confusion between Sakura and Syaoran. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. It belongs to clamp.

Come What May

Ch.1 Unbearable Truth

Sakura sat on that one particular park bench, with the paint all faded and one of the legs slightly shaky. But, she liked it because it had been there her whole life. It was something that couldn't be taken away. She sat there now, slowly sipping her lukewarm coffee. She always preferred this place on nice tranquil days instead of the usual coffee shop. She wouldn't be interrupted here and could get to think of him as much as she liked.

Yukito. He had been her love since the 4th grade and how desperately she wished he would look her way. Nonetheless, she was back again, dreaming about her future with none of reality in sight. It was sad really.

And she sat being bored, reminiscing on her past childhood and how when high school suddenly came around, everything had crashed. Touya left home after he graduated and was now in Tokyo, along with Yukito, trying hard in college. Tomoyo moved with her mother after she had found a new job. Periodically she sent dresses back for special occasions, and visited during the holidays. There was some good news, and that was that in just a few weeks Tomoyo would actually be able to move out of her mom's house and come back to Tomoeda permanently. So yes, Tomoyo would be back soon, but that didn't change anything really.

Sakura felt alone, but it wasn't the first time in her life. Absently she played with bits of her shoulder length auburn hair and twisted it over and over again with her fingers. She had even grown out her hair to as long as her upper back, until it got unbearably hot during the summer and became a nuisance. Touya commented that although she sported the short hair cut once again, it didn't change the fact that she had blossomed into a lady. Sakura smiled gratefully at her brother and her eyes captured the feeling of warmth that showed within his orbs. That was her 16th birthday. And not soon after, her father died.

Sakura pushed the thoughts of her deceased father away. She was done mourning but would always keep such a kind and gentle man within her heart. She sighed quietly as her eyes focused on a distant figure and recognition hit her rather annoyingly.

Li Syaoran. The ultimate bastard of Tomoeda High. As she suspected, a girl walked beside his, and he had his arms slung casually around her shoulders as they pranced towards the other side of the park. Sakura watched disgustedly as he kissed her his hand inching up her waist and resting back down on her hip. The girl pressed herself to him willingly and Sakura forced herself not to stare in details as they continued.

Her thoughts drifted back to her father. When he had passed away, he left her with a large and empty house. She was accepting the cruel fate of losing the man whom she loved so much, and having to cope with it by herself. She ended up managing it by busying herself with schoolwork. Then, soon after Touya started having trouble sending money back, she understood that no one was going to take care of her anymore. She had to get a job herself and make her own living, even though she was still a student.

She had tried, honestly, to get a job. But it was hard because of her limited hours and skills. She figured out in the end, she couldn't apply for anything beyond a restaurant job. However, that left her with practically no time to do her homework and no weekends. She couldn't give up those things just yet. She coveted to live like a normal girl, and even with her troubles, her smile didn't leave her face. Her friends rarely saw her in despair because her strength made it possible to hide it from them. Sakura continued to radiant warmth to the people around her no matter how much she ached inside.

She lifted her head and stared off into the sun, letting the dying rays temporary blind her. It was close to dusk, and the sun shed its bright gold color for a flaming red blush. A slow fire raged through the clouds and carried itself farther and farther away from Sakura. She shifted her gaze once again and it landed unfortunately on Li and his current woman. Their kiss seemed to be never ending and Syaoran clearly enjoyed sticking his tongue down her throat very much. Sakura snorted and got up.

Well that just ruined her afternoon.

There was a point when she almost... _loved _Syaoran. It was now considered a temporary lapse of insanity. He wasn't who she had imagined, and she would never forgive him for the things that he did. She did not want to put her heart on the line like that, only to have him step on it and smash it to the ground beneath his feet. He was a player, one who did not understand love. And she hoped that he would always remain lonely and miserable, accompanied by those lowly girls who are only after his money and authority. He may be smart, but he wastes all of his talents by locking himself up in that mansion, holding parties that stop at dawn, while drinking and indulging in his so called 'fun.'

Sakura hated that life. She hated him for changing and becoming a part of that society. She didn't know where the sweet, quiet Syaoran went. She didn't care about finding out either. For now, the two kept their distance at school, occasionally trading off insults and cruel pranks. Sakura knew that she was being immature when lured by his tempting nature to just smack his face in. Currently, it happened more and more often until she became afraid she was losing her mind.

She blocked Syaoran Li from her mind and concentrated on the lines of the sidewalk beneath her feet. It reminded her of a stupid saying. 'Step on a crack and break your mother's back.' Unconsciously she had been avoiding to step on a crack for some time now.

"But my mom's dead already." She said to no one in particular and stopped staring at the cement sidewalk.

The walk home did not torture her like it did on some days. The sun had finally began to set, painting Tomoeda's sky with darker arrays of oranges and reds. If Tomoyo or Chiharu had been around, she would have smiled brightly to show them that she was ok and full of hope. But they weren't around today, so she allowed herself to pull a stoic face and get on with it. Her house, the large and empty one, came into view after one last corner. The only one that greeted her was Kero, her large, almost lion-like dog.

"Hey boy." She whispered, petting his fur between his ears.

He purred and then jumped up to lick her face. This caused Sakura to giggle slightly as she took off her shoes and went to the kitchen. A red light flashed off of her answering machine and she pressed the button dejectedly before even turning the light on.

"You have one new message."

Beep.

"Hey Sakura, it's oni-chan. How are you doing? Hope you're not causing trouble when I'm not there. Listen squirt, I'm sorry but I just can't send any money back this month. Nakuru's birthday is coming and I have to get her something real nice. Just take some more money out of dad's savings and you'll be fine. Don't spend it all! Anyways, oh here's Yukito, he wants to talk to you."

Sakura's face lit up and she turned around facing the answering machine fully, as if she could see Yukito's face, talking to her.

His voice came on the line, and unknowingly Sakura was smiling.

"Hey Touya, can you leave the room. I gotta tell her something." Yukito sounded distant and Sakura guessed he was probably not to the phone yet and was telling Touya to leave in the background.

She could hear the door open and a jingle of keys.

"I'll be back around 8." She heard Touya say in the background and concluded he was probably already out in the hall."

"Ok, now then," Yukito's voice came back, loud and clear. "How are you doing Sakura? Me, I'm fine. This is kind of awkward saying it to your answering machine, but I guess maybe it's easier."

Sakura's stomach turned. What was Yukito trying to tell her? It couldn't have been good… She held her breath and she leaned closer to the machine, straining her ears to hear what he was saying.

"Well month or so, I met this girl. She's... well, the same age as I am and she's very intellectual. And I know that, it might hurt you if you heard it from someone else so I'm trying to be an adult and tell you myself."

Unknowingly, Sakura bit her lip, hard.

"I know that well… you still have that crush on me. And Sakura I love you, I really do, like my own little sister. But you see, you are just my... little sister. I can talk to you about anything, and I can act natural and joke around with you."

What's the point?

"But Yumi.. she's different. She intrigues me, before I knew it, all I could think about was her, and how I could make her think of me like the way you think of me. And I know this is selfish, but she's coming back with me to Tomoeda soon, you guys will be acquainted and I don't want.. well you know what I mean."

The realization hit her head on, and tears were running like silent streams down Sakura's cheeks. She bit her lip from making any noise so that she could hear Yukito continue.

"I know you'll grow up and mature and turn into a lovely young woman. And I'll probably slap myself then for doing this to you, but Sakura, you'll always be the little girl that I protect with my life. I love you, just not like that. I hope you'll forgive me…"

Sakura silently nodded along with the machine, and she could tell how difficult it was for Yukito to be saying this to her. However, that didn't stop her heart from crumbling into a million pieces and she continued to listen.

"So I'll be coming back soon. And I know that you're lonely and all, so maybe if you allowed, all of us will stay at your house and you know, it'll be like old times. Except Yumi will be there and I'm sure if you just got to know her, you would like her very much."

Sakura clenched her fists and finally bit into one of them from whimpering.

"I guess that's all. If you hate me for this, I understand. But I thought it would be unfair to keep giving you hope and then suddenly have me bring this girl home. And Sakura, I really do love her too, as much as I love you like my little sister. I know you won't hurt her, you'll be kind to her like you've been kind to everyone else. Um.. so I guess, bye."

Click.

"Sunday 3:46 pm. End of messages."

Beep.

Silence.

Sakura stood in the dark, one fist in her mouth, crying silently. She made a choking sound, then slid slowing along the cabinets and sat finally on the cold floor. Bringing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in them. Then, she began sobbing. Her breathing came in hiccups and she just let the tears flow freely, wetting the hems of her sleeves. Kero came up beside her, nudging his owner gently, but Sakura ignored him.

A messy jumble of thoughts ran through her head, echoing one after the other.

I met this girl…_ Yeah Yukito, like every other one you tell me about._

I love you, like my little sister…._ I know that, but maybe you'll change your mind one day._

Little sister… _I don't want to be your little sister!_

I love her, I really do…. _No, no! Don't tell me that!_

She intrigues me…_ Maybe I would too, if you ever looked at me._

You'll be the little girl I always protect…_ I don't need you to protect me. I just want you to love me!_

Little girl… _Just because I haven't had sex? Because I can't drink or haven't gone clubbing? _

I know you won't hurt her.._ Of course, I couldn't. It would make you unhappy._

If you allowed, we could all come stay at your house…_ Sure, if that's what you want. Even though it will tear me apart._

If you hate me for this, I understand…_ Oh Yukito, how can I hate you? You know I won't._

Paralyzed with the sudden trainwreck that crashed into her head, she quickly made a grab for her keys and ran out into the cold night.

Next Chapter: Where is Sakura going? Who will she run into? What will they do! Lol, this sounds very… eh… So anyways, Sakura will definitely run into the 'bastard' or the story. But, I'll leave what they do a secret. .- So the title of the next chapter will be : A Night of Regret.


	2. A night of Regret

AN: La La La. This chapter was fun to write. It has the first scenes of our couple. Allow me to explain a little of their history, because it was probably hard to infer anything from the last chapter.

Sakura and Syaoran were friends before. And they had gotten close enough to the point that Sakura thought she 'loved' him. Which means they were actually a little more than 'pretty close'. However, Syaoran was being swayed on the path of his hero journey (thank you English Teacher), and made many mistakes that worsened their relationship. Until, they kind of gave up, and turned into enemies. So, naturally, he knows a lot about her, and she knows a lot about him. They have that 'connection' but just refuse to admit it. You know how it is, when you and your best friend 5 years ago meet again, and you notice the little things she used to do, or laugh about, and you feel really close to her? No? Um.. or like, meeting your ex boyfriend and you automatically correct his current girlfriend that he doesn't like the smell of perfume, only clean soapy smells.

OK, I'm rambling.

This might not even seem important now, but it will be later.

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS.

Come What May

Ch. 2 A Night of Regret

Li Syaoran was bored. His flavor of the week was drunk, and had collapsed on the couch after the third bottle. How weak was that? He rolled his eyes and sighed, taking another look around the room for some decent looking chicks.

He spotted a blonde sitting by the TV and noticed her very nice legs, but then he averted his eyes to the screen and noticed what she was watching.

Another bimbo. He mentally groaned.

It was then, something strange happened. The door opened and in stepped Kinomoto Sakura, his sworn enemy. She was dressed in nothing but a simple red shirt and tan shorts, her hair was not done, and she had no visible make-up on. Any other girl would have looked like crap without their façade, but somehow, Sakura looked gorgeous without having to apply any pastel to her face. Syaoran's eyes lit up with interest.

Kinomoto Sakura never goes to these parties, especially not the ones run by him. So what was she doing in his mansion, at his party, without an invitation? His eyes followed her across the lounge where she promptly sat down by the bar and hastily grabbed a shot of tequila.

She downed that baby.

Oh, so that's why she was here. Free booze.

Syaoran chuckled. It was rare to see Kinomoto so down, something was up, and he was very interested. Pushing his messy banes to the side, he began moving across the room towards the direction of the large grand staircase. The loud bass vibrated through out the open hall, making his head hurt. He couldn't even hear himself talk, and had to shout for Yura to get off of him when she latched her arm to his before he could take more than a few steps. Squeezing past a few more couples, he reached her by the bar and sat down next to her.

"Well well, if it isn't miss perfect Kinomoto." He began, a flirtatious grin on his face.

"Sod off Li, I'm not in the mood." She rolled her eyes and returned bitterly.

Syaoran scoffed. "Excuse me? You are in _my_ house." He even made a gesture to the grand staircase, and the large salon that currently was occupied by several drunken teenagers.

Sakura ignored him and took another sip of Absolute Vodka, scrunching up her face in disgust. The taste was horrible and it burned in her throat, but if it would make this emptiness go away, Sakura didn't give a shit. Syaoran looked down at her with knit eyebrows.

"Are you just trying to get drunk?" He prompted, handing her another glass. "If you are, drink some beer with it, it'll get you wasted faster." He helpfully added, passing her a can.

Sakura opened it hastily and began gulping the liquid down. Syaoran frowned. Now that was something he did not expect her to do.

"Um," Syaoran frowned, "are you ok? I was just kidding you know." He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle shake. She continued to ignore him and picked out another shot laying on the table.

So much pain. The alcohol was making her feel better. That was all she cared about.

"What's up your ass? Someone must have really pushed your buttons." Syaoran mumbled, his eyebrows quirked and the corner of his lips tilted in an amused manner. This was very entertaining.

Sakura obviously was not very experienced with drinking.

"It you came here to get drunk, at least drink something enjoyable."

Syaoran forcefully grabbed the glass of vodka away from Sakura, and hopped easily over the bar. He began rummaging in the cabinets below, for the ingredients he required while Sakura watched him with a bored expression on her face.

"Five minutes." He said to the bartender who gave him an appreciative nod and left probably to take a restroom break, since he was too old to hook up with any of the high school girls.

"Vodka tastes better mixed with something, especially if you're a girl and you can't take it at all." He said knowingly, grabbing some Amaretto and adding it to Sakura's glass.

"Girls like fruity stuff right?" He said, quirking an eyebrow. Sakura nodded dumbly, her eyes unfocused and her heart feeling empty. She didn't care about anything right now, and she wanted to stop feeling anything as well.

Syaoran frowned slightly and added a fair amount of orange juice and peach schnapps into her drink.

"Personally, I hate cranberries." He continued, stirring her glass lightly then letting it turn by itself from the momentum in the cup, while Sakura admired the colorful beverage swirl around and around.

"Sex on the beach." Syaoran announced and gave her the glass.

Sakura took it with a sigh and rolled her eyes. Did Syaoran have to show her up on everything? She could drink whatever she damn wished.

Nonetheless, it had a much more pleasant taste than pure vodka and suited her much better. Syaoran licked his lips as he watched her, he expected her to fade away with the rest of the bimbos, and that he would loose interest. Suddenly, two fat tears trailed down her cheeks, but she didn't even bother wiping them away. Syaoran didn't sympathize with her tears, but once again she succeeded in intriguing him.

"Ok now, let's give you something…" Syaoran paused, turning a brownish looking bottle in him hand until he could read the label correctly. "Refreshing." He finished.

He poured some of it's content into a tall glass, letting it swish around slowly. Silently, his eyes reverted back to Sakura, and he looked at her expression cautiously. There was smoke in the room, and he swore he would take care of them later. Sakura looked so out of place, her eyebrows knit together in pain and her face twisted into a sickening frown, maybe because of the taste of alcohol, or because of the smell of the smoke.

That frown didn't fit her face.

He then added a fair amount of peppermint schnapps.

"Goldiva Peppermint kiss." He said, the corners of his mouth lifting into a cruel smile and handed her the glass.

Syaoran raised his hand and motioned for the bartender to come back to work. The man quickly readjusted his tie and began to trudge back in their direction. He politely bowed to Sakura before taking his place behind the bar.

"What would you like sir?" He asked in a polite voice while grabbing two beers to sit on the counter for whoever wished to have another drink.

"Ross Perot." Syaoran said breezily, "skip the club soda, I've had enough beers." He added, still eyeing Sakura. She was almost done with her drink, and because she was in an obviously bad mood, in no time she would be drunk.

"Can I have another one of these?" She asked him, suddenly very close. So close in fact, Syaoran could see her pink lace bra from the inside of her loosely worn shirt.

His eyes widened.

"Woah." He said shakily, "I think that's enough." Syaoran placed his hands around her waist, pulling her away from the bar.

"Let go of me!" She suddenly shouted and slapped his hand away. Her mood had changed drastically within the past five minutes, and now Syaoran was regretting ever approaching this girl.

"You offer free alcohol at your parties right? Why are you so mean to me!" She pouted, giving him a pleading look.

Syaoran let go of her and allowed her to half walk half stumble back to the counter where she took another sip of a random nearby glass.

"You don't even know what's in that." Syaoran said looking at the girl in front of him.

"Doesn't matter." She slurred, letting the burning liquid confuse her sense and cloud her memory. She coughed and made a disgusting look on her face at the bitter taste, but she already felt the warmth. Personally, she liked what Syaoran made her better, but this would do also.

"I'm not a little girl you know. I can drink, and you can't stop me." She wasn't talking to anyone in particular and she felt her head spin. Two girls stumbled by Sakura followed by a group of three guys that were eyeing them dangerously. One boy caught sight of Sakura and let his eyes linger for a moment too long.

Syaoran sighed and rolled his eyes. He sat down next to the buzzed girl, draping an arm around her shoulder and marking her as his property. He didn't know why he was doing this, because after all, she hated him and would probably slap him later the next day. Their one-way hate relationship had started off after he pulled a few unnecessary pranks on her and her precious drill team last spring. Since then, the two had battled it out, leaving small room for compensations or apologies. And now she suddenly shows up at one of his parties, getting herself immediately drunk. All of this was so unlike Sakura it almost scared Syaoran. Something really bad must have happened to change the nice bubbly girl so fast and he felt compelled to .. protect her?

At least he didn't want anyone to take advantage of her under his roof.

Sakura didn't protest at all, instead she simply laid her head on his shoulder, something no one in Tomoeda high would have dreamed of happening in a million years. She giggled and looked up at him, her eyes devoid of recognition as she snuggled closer to his chest.

Syaoran frowned. "Listen, I don't think you should.."

Suddenly Sakura rose up from her seat and leaned in directly in front of him, she closed the gap between them so that their noses were practically touching. Syaoran's eyes widened in shock and he watched her eyelashes batter up and down. Her eyes were clouded, and her hair was somehow slightly tousled. It gave her an incredible look that made Syaoran forcefully look away.

"Syaoran? Have I ever told you how incredibly hot you are?" Sakura slurred in a drunken tone, pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth. She murmured something else that Syaoran couldn't quite catch, and kissed him lightly on his cheek.

Syaoran stiffened and held her at arm's length.

"Sakura, you need to go home. You're drunk." He said with a disgusted look on his face.

Sakura shook her head.

"Nu uh. You're the one who's talking nonsense. Come here." She beckoned him with her finger and slyly backed away two steps. Syaoran followed her, trying to think of a way to get this silly girl home. But her hips were swaying left and right as she tried her best to walk. They climbed the stairs, and she fell backwards into his chest three times. He got a good whiff of the smell of her hair, and once, he kissed her shoulder lightly. Sakura didn't know where she was going, and randomly opened a few doors, only to quickly close it again with distaste. She finally led him to one of his sister's bedrooms, Fuutie's in fact, and plopped down on the bed.

"Come here." She pleaded innocently and smiled up at him. Syaoran's heart froze as he looked at the gorgeous girl in front of him. Sakura smiles all the time, but never at him. All he ever got to see were her angry scowls, or the impatient flicker of her eyelids. Her smile was naturally beautiful. Not like a laugh and exposing any teeth, but a genuine smile that caused her to squint her eyes with pleasure. It was a strangely nice sensation that ran through the course of his body and he smiled back at her. Unable to resist, he laid his body down next to her on the mattress and draped an arm over her waist.

She turned over to her side and cupped his face in her hands. Her eyes were suddenly sparkling, and Syaoran got the nostalgic feeling of the two being friends once. The wheels of disaster were about to be set into motion, but he was having none of that at the moment. He didn't mind a bit.

Syaoran didn't think about pulling away anymore. He was a testosterone-operated teenager, and no matter how annoying Sakura was, she was arguably the most gorgeous girl at Tomoeda High. He pulled her closer. His fingers tickling her slightly when they brushed her stomach. She giggled again and finally closed the distance between their lips.

Her tongue plunged into his mouth and Syaoran took full advantage of the drunken girl, slowly taking off her clothes and throwing them in a pile on the floor.

He knew he was a bastard for doing this, and that pulling off this little stunt would probably be the last straw for Kinomoto Sakura. She probably would castrate him in the morning, but right now, he wasn't thinking about that. Instead, he just felt at home, and Sakura was just any other girl that somehow found a way into his bed.

AN: Tsk tsk. Bad Syaoran. Next Chapter: The Fun Begins. Btw, does it explain some that Syaoran and Sakura are not strangers, they just don't particularly like each other at the moment, but they don't act shy or awkward around each other at all. Please read and review! -


	3. The Fun Begins

AN: Thank you all you lovely reviewers. passes out eggrolls You make me happy :D

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.

Come What May

Ch. 3 The Fun Begins

Sakura woke up with a throbbing headache. The inside of her mouth tasted bitter, and she cringed when the light hit her sensitive eyes.

_What the…?_

That was the first thing that registered in her mind as she looked around her surroundings. She was in a very large room with beige walls and large velvety curtains. The doors were made of fine mahogany wood, and the entire room smelled of a clean fresh scent. Warm sunlight spilled in from the windows and hit the bed that she was currently laying on. The sheets were fresh, the mattress was soft, and everything around her screamed the word 'expensive.'

"This is definitely not my room." She mumbled with her hand pressed to her forehead. "God.." She whispered and tried to remember the events of last night. There was a dull pain in her abdomen but she ignored it and got out of bed.

That was when she noticed she was naked.

At once, the truth settled in and Sakura jumped back in bed alarmed, looking around the room for her clothing. The floors and tables were clean.

"Shit." She cursed, feeling her heart race up with panic. Then she remembered someone, on top of her, kissing her. His voice deep, his eyes gazing over her body. She remembered kissing him back, moaning and panting.

"Li." She grounded out with gritted teeth.

A million thoughts ran through her head about how she would pummel him to the ground. But the wave of fury passed quickly. When the anger was over, the hurt came to her. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and she stopped a sob in her throat. She had lost it to a boy she hated, and she was drunk. He used her, and she betrayed Yukito.

Whimpering, she doubled over and clutched her stomach.

"Damn it damn it damn it." She said straight in a row, wondering what the hell she should to do next.

She didn't have to wonder much longer, because at that second, the door opened and in stepped a maid. She looked around Sakura's age, with long blonde hair braided into two French braids. She quickly flashed Sakura a look of sympathy before handing her a pile of pressed clothes, all washed and dried.

Sakura's clothes.

"Master Syaoran left me instructions to give you your clothes and see you home." She said cutely and walked over to the closet.

"Personally, I would knick something if I were you. These closets are full of stuff the other girls have left behind."

Sakura swallowed. What kind of monster was Syaoran?

"Oh look here, there's a cute skirt." She tossed it on the bed carelessly.

Sakura just looked at her with a stupefied expression on her face.

The maid suddenly laughed. "Master Syaoran said you would have the reaction. I'm not being serious. These are his sisters." She gestured towards the opened closet.

"Breakfast is ready downstairs. If you hurry, you won't be late for school."

Sakura mentally groaned. School. She had forgotten all about it. No matter, once she got there she was going to find Li.

And boy was he going to get it.

(OoOoOoOoOoOoOo)

Tomoeda high was a good reputable place. It had large trees in the front courtyard and a small, adjoined park to the side of the school that must students used as a facility to have picnics during lunch. Sakura could agree wholeheartedly that it was a good natural environment with lots of trees surrounding the campus to settle down, clear one's head, and intake information about science, math, whatever.

But today was definitely not one of those educational learning days, Sakura concluded.

She stepped through the front doors and immediately headed for the roof, where she knew Li and his gang liked to hang out in the mornings. In fact it was a place they often went to. She had never figured out what it was about the open sky that entrigued Li so much. They used to spend hours standing there on top of the school, observing Tomoeda through tiny holes in the chain linked fence.

When she started up the long staircase, she already had her mind made up.

"I am going to kill you." She muttered quietly as she clenched her fists and continued to stomp up the stairs.

It didn't take long before she reached the door leading to the roof. She pushed it open angrily and stepped out into the sunlight that spilled onto the floor.

"Li Syaoran!" She screamed at once, eyeing him in the far corner with his friends. "I need to talk to you." She said with conviction and a killing look in her eye.

One of Syaoran's friend looked at her alarmingly while the other shrugged his shoulders before leaving the other shorter member. They didn't even acknowledge her when they pushed her aside so that she was out of the doorway. Sakura heard their footsteps on the stairs below and rolled her eyes.

"Pigs." She mumbled and began to walk towards Li. He was leaning against the metal fence, arms crossed, head tilted towards the side and one eyebrow raised.

"Good to see you too, Kinomoto. Sleep good last night?"

The sound of her fist connecting with his jaw was so satisfying that Sakura smirked with temporary victory.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" She began, her auburn bangs hanging in her face, but she didn't care. "What right did you have to do what you did last night?"

Li took a second to recover from the blow and straightened himself before rubbing his jaw tenderly. He smirked right back at her.

"What, you didn't enjoy it?" He taunted, a glint in his eye. Sakura shook her head in disbelief.

"I didn't want that! You forced me, you know what that's called Li?" She all but screamed in his face.

Syaoran just shrugged.

"Well you certainly don't seem to be afraid of your rapist." He returned sarcastically. "I know you wanted it Sakura. I was just doing you a favor."

Sakura's mouth hung open and she gasped. "I don't believe this. Touya, he'll kill you."

Syaoran scowled. "Have you told him already? You little bitch! We were just having some fun, it's what normal people do." He shouted back at her, swiping at his messy bangs that had fallen in his eyes.

"What are you talking about? Normal girls don't do this kind of things. Sluts do." Sakura yelled in a ridiculously high voice. Probably half of the courtyard had heard her say that comment.

"Relax Sakura. You came to the party to have a few drinks. You got loosened up and then we had some fun. That was it. Nothing's going to happen." Syaoran held up his palms in front of his hand, feeling slightly guilty that she was so upset about it. He justified with himself that the only reason last night happened was because Sakura came on to him first. His conscience has no business feeling guilty or regretful.

"I had unprotected and unwanted sex with a person I hate because I was drunk!" Sakura said exasperatedly, tears of anguish building up on her thick lashes. They spilled down her cheeks in one fluid motion and Syaoran's eyes widened.

"Well ok, so you made a mistake. It's not the end of the world." He chose to say instead of comforting her. Even though, it made him feel like a complete ass. His conscience actually surprised him. Many of the times he had pulled off this act without a sliver of guilt. Sakura was… slightly different to him.

"Oh no, no no, I didn't make a mistake. You forced me." Sakura said, her voice breaking slightly as she shook her head in disbelief.

Syaoran snorted. "I did no such thing Sakura, you chose to drink. You got yourself intoxicated and then you came on to me."

There was a strangled cry from the back of her throat as she stood her ground, staring at him with impassive eyes.

"I did not. I was drunk, it doesn't count."

"Of course. But what was I supposed to do? Push you off? You're so hot Sakura, you have no idea how hard that is." Syaoran stood up straight, putting his hands on her shoulders to emphasize his point. She immediately flinched and backed away. Syaoran felt something clench in his stomach but ignored it.

"You are such a bastard." She said with vengeance.

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "As I've heard you say many times."

"I hate you."

"Again, no surprise."

"Why are you so eager to make my life miserable?" Sakura sagged her shoulders, losing her offence and lowering the voice two decibels.

Syaoran gave a sigh of annoyance. He might as well say it now.

"Why are you so cooped up in your hen pen, that you won't even come out and enjoy life? Admit it Sakura, last night was fun. Don't be a little girl, just grow up!" He shouted the last part, hoping that it will get through that thick skull of hers.

"Little girl?" Sakura said with a gasp, letting her memories of the telephone message cloud her brains. Is that why Yukito considered her a little girl? Because she didn't have this type of fun? Is that the type of thing Yumi did before when she was in high school? None of it made sense to her of course, but if that was what Yukito wanted, she could change her old-fashioned goody good ways and accommodate to his needs. And what better way than to use Syaoran and toy with his feelings in the process? It was all coming together now, last night was a mere sacrifice of her innocence for the new 'Kinomoto Sakura' that would blow Yukito away and make him mad with jealousy when he returned to Tomoeda. Li Syaoran was an expendable tool and Sakura would make sure to use him fully in her master plan.

"That was not fun." She found herself saying, quirking her eyebrows, "But you know what, I have more 'fun' than you think Syaoran."

He looked taken back for a brief moment, then recovered quickly.

"Really now? Why don't you show me?" Syaoran said slyly, wounding an arm around Sakura's waist. Sakura's first response would have been to pull away in disgust, instead, she held her ground and stared at him expectantly.

He lowered his lips to hers and she allowed his to lightly brush hers before pulling away just when he came back for the second round, a satisfied smirk on her face.

"So it begins," She announced, her hands on her hips, "I suppose you could call this the new stage of our hateful relationship…" She trailed off and snorted, shaking her head in disbelief.

Syaoran just grinned, not believing his luck. "Fine with me, Kinomoto. You needed to loosen up anyways." The look in his eyes said it all. _No one would know._ "I'll help you with that, that's for sure." He winked at her one last time and kissed her temple lightly before leaving her on the roof all alone, feeling defeated in the first round.

AN: So the stage is set! This couple's emotions are being put on the spot, will it blossom into love? Next chapter: The Return of Someone Special. Please read and review. -


	4. Return of someone special

Disclaimer: CCS belongs to Clamp. Although i wish i owned Syaoran O.O

Come What May

Ch4. The Return of Someone Special

Sakura stood for a good five minutes in front of her homeroom. She just stared blankly at the door, admiring the worn out brass handle, and the red letters on the label that read 12-C. She knew Syaoran was on the other side of those wooden doors, and the thought of having to face him again made her stomach turn. It wasn't flattery.

Summoning up her last ounce of courage, and driving away the dread in her mind, she pushed the door open half-heartedly and ignored the looks of her fellow classmates.

"Well?" Mr. Takahashi gazed at her expectantly.

"Lost track of time." She bowed politely, and smiled apologetically up at the teacher. "Won't happen again sir."

He nodded slightly, half paying attention to her excuse.

"Very well. There's only one desk left by the window, hurry and take your seat."

Sakura groaned when her eyes landed on whom that last seat was by. Syaoran's backpack was placed on the chair, and he smiled tauntingly at her. When she grabbed his bag and threw it at his face, he only had to lift his hand carelessly and grasp the straps with ease.

"You didn't have to throw it at me." He said, feigning a hurt look.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Sorry sweetie." She replied, forcing a smile.

Syaoran shrugged and put his backpack down by his feet. He looked at Sakura from the corner of his eyes and frowned a little.

"What's wrong?"

Sakura shook her head and ignored him.

"What have I gotten myself into?" She mumbled quietly to herself.

"Class!" Mr. Takahashi snapped his fingers into the air with authority. Half of the students gave him half of their attention, while the other half was busy copying down the assignments for the rest of the week from the weekly calendar.

"We have a new student today." He announced, posing his arm to his side and pointing to the door.

Sakura lifted her head in attention, and then suddenly her face lit up with a genuine smile.

Tomoyo stood in the doorway, her school bag dangling in her hands, and her long beautiful hair spilling over her shoulders onto her uniform. A Tomoeda High uniform.

"Oh..." Sakura let out a breath of relief. At last, a savior had arrived.

"Konnichiwa." Tomoyo greeted pleasantly to rest of the class. Chiharu immediately recognized her old friend.

"Tomoyo!" She giggled happily and waved from the back of the room.

"Class, this is Daidoujii Tomoyo." Mr. Takahashi continued, "She just transferred from a high school in Tokyo.

Sakura turned her head and looked at Syaoran. She saw him visibly flinch as he and Tomoyo locked eyes.

"Sakura," He began, turning his gaze to focus on her, "can you… keep everything a secret?"

Sakura wanted to scream at him. Everything was his fault. He wasn't what she wanted at all, and she hated him, and didn't need him now that Tomoyo was here. But the look in his eyes was so sincere, that at that moment, the words on her lips died out.

She briefly nodded, and saw a look of relief pass over Syaoran's eyes.

"I…" He started again, but Sakura cut him off.

"I know." She found herself replying, and looked away awkwardly.

(OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo)

Tomoyo stood under the same cherry blossom tree her and Sakura had grew up under. She could still recognize it from the others that were adorned in the same courtyard. As a paltry breeze blew past, Tomoyo could smell the fainted sweet odor of the pedals, and could feel the soft wind ruffle her long dark hair. It was beautiful, to be under the warm glow of the dimmed sun, and it felt beautiful, to be back in her hometown surrounded once again by her friends.

But she had a strange sensation that something wasn't quite right. Tomoyo could feel it, but she couldn't quite place her hands on it just yet. It had something to do with her friend that was more like a sister than any real one she could ever have had. Sakura was different. She had changed.

It was something she began to notice a long time ago. The fire slowly burning out in her best friend's eyes, replaced quickly by false warmth, or radiance that didn't quite shine like before. They were empty, longing for something. Tomoyo knew she left Sakura; at the time that she suspected Sakura needed her the most. And for that, Tomoyo felt deep regret. She concluded in the end, Sakura's happiness along with her own selfish desires for a certain someone else overpowered her ambition to succeed. Her mother had argued with her bitterly about it, until she finally gave in to one of Tomoyo's rare tantrums. That dream of success would have to wait a few years.

Now she stood, her lunch bag gathered in her hand, waiting patiently for her friend to descend the stairs leading to their meeting place for lunch. It was where they always met, and Tomoyo did not hesitate in coming here after school.

"Tomoyo!"

As if on cue, Sakura appeared out the doorway, her smile brandished on her face, and her hair bouncing up and down as she jogged towards her.

Tomoyo smiled at her genuinely.

"Took you long enough."

"Sorry. Rita needed me to give her the notes for physics. Unfortunately, I left them in my locker and had to go all the way back to get it."

"It's ok Sakura. I'm used to it remember?"

"Tomoyo, I've grown more responsible."

"Of course." Tomoyo grinned knowingly, and promptly sat down next to Sakura.

The two ate, talking now and then about recent Tomoeda, and the schooling Tomoyo received in Tokyo. But the conversations were brief, since Sakura was too busy stuffing her face half the time. Tomoyo waited patiently, as Sakura chewed the food anxiously, holding up her index finger, signally to hold that thought while she ate the last morsel of food.

Afterwards, they settled down on the soft grass, Sakura's head pillowed on Tomoyo's lunch bag, both staring at the blue sky.

"I haven't heard you talk much about Yukito."

"There's nothing to say really."

She frowned.

"Really now? Last time I checked, all you could think about was him."

"He's a part of my life Tomoyo, but he's gone now."

Tomoyo shifted uncomfortably next to Sakura.

"You sound… strange, Sakura."

"I do?" She paused. "Sorry, must be the weather. This kind of breeze makes me reminisce. I can't get too comfortable these days."

"Excuse me?"

Sakura groaned, turning over and facing Tomoyo on the soft grass.

"I mean, things always seem to sneak up on me if I'm too settled in."

Tomoyo frowned.

"That's so unlike the Sakura I once knew."

She shrugged. "I suppose. We all have to grow up right?"

"Did something happen recently? It's been a month since I've last talked with you seriously on the phone."

There was a slight pause. "Yukito, he, he's dating someone now. It's a serious relationship."

_Oh. So that was it? _

"Well now, you don't know that."

"He left me a message Tomoyo. I know him, he wouldn't break my heart like that over a girl he didn't care about."

Tomoyo didn't want to pour more salt on the wounds and quieted. A breeze ruffled passed the soft blades of grass, and Sakura's bangs blew all over her eyes. She swiped them away agitatedly.

"Is that the only thing bothering you?"

"Well, and my empty house. It gets to me sometimes."

Tomoyo could tell immediately she was lying. There was always that peculiar tone, slightly sharper than the usual cheerful voice her friend possessed.

"I don't think so Sakura." A thoughtful smile spread over Tomoyo's face. "There's something else."

Sakura looked back at her with large innocent eyes. "I don't know what you mean."

But the smile on Tomoyo's face spread.

"I saw the way you looked at him today."

"Who?"

"Syaoran."

"Tomoyo! Don't be ridiculous."

"Talk to him lately?"

"Of course not. We don't 'talk' anymore. You know that."

There was the hint of sadness again in Sakura's voice.

"I remember, in grade school, I could have sworn he loved you."

Sakura was silent for a brief moment, and Tomoyo heard a distant echo of bells. It was almost time to resume class.

"Syaoran changed before you left, you knew that."

"He could have changed after I left too."

Suddenly Sakura laughed, and caught Tomoyo off guard.

"Why are we wasting our time talking about him? He doesn't matter to me." Sakura sat up, turning behind her to pull together her belongings. Tomoyo shouldn't be questioning her about useless people like Syaoran.

"Do you guys still argue like usual?"

"Naturally. It's a part of our pride and psyche."

Tomoyo stood up as well, taking one last look at the Sakura trees in front of her.

"Glad to hear. At least some aspect of you is still the same."

They began walking back towards the school, Tomoyo glancing at Sakura occasionally, and Sakura focusing her eyes on anything but her friend's questioning gaze.

"I don't know what you're going on about Tomoyo. I haven't changed the slightest."

"No." Tomoyo replied sadly, "you're not the same. I can feel it."

Sakura frowned at Tomoyo. Something was just not right today.

"I think, someone needs to see the local foreigner." She teased, nudging Tomoyo in the arm. Tomoyo blushed.

"How has he been?" She asked shyly.

"Who?" Sakura teased.

"You know who Sakura."

"Eriol is still the same. A calm and collected millionaire, surrounded by fan girls, and whatnot. But he has a brain, so I won't compare him to that best friend of his."

"I thought you said we weren't gonna talk about Syaoran?"

Sakura was saved by the bell.


	5. Syaoran's Mistakes

AN: I'm so sorry not updating for so long! The reason is because of a plot change/edit. But I combined two chapters, so this is longer than usual :D. So now we'll find out a part of why Sakura and Syaoran 'hate' each other so much. Also, Syaoran makes another huge mistake!

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS.

Come What May

Ch. 5 Syaoran's mistakes

It was a Sunday, and Sakura sat on her comfortable love seat, in the house all by herself sorting through the mail and mumbling quietly to her self.

"Bill... bill... hey a card, oh wait, wrong address… bill… what's this?" Her eyes paused over a single white envelope decorated with a black and white seal at the back. The odd thing was, the seal was a circle split into two, one filled black and one with white. It was a yin-yang.

"Hmm." She said thoughtfully as she torn open the envelope, pulling out a single sheet of paper that smelled faintly like wood finish.

"Looking for house maids, working hours 5-7 pm. Contact address 12345 cherry oak drive."

It was printed in neat cursive letters, signed by Wei. Sakura knew that address all too well, and unconsciously clenched her fists. Very well, if he were willing to challenge her, she would show up for an interview. Today was fine right? In fact, she was free right now.

She spent a few more moments gathering up guts, while putting on a minimal amount of make up to make her appearance look slightly more mature. She slipped on some sandals instead of her skates and decided she would walk.

Sundays were always quiet in the town of Tomoeda. The wind ruffled her hair, and the breezes seemed to whisper in her ears. There was a faint smell of clean air and something homey in the air. Sakura could never place just what it was that made her love the smell of her town so much.

The crisp morning flurry suddenly became a little chilly when it blew past her arms, raising goose bumps from her skin. Sakura covered her arms with her hands, and her keys dangled from her fingertips. The sound of jingles followed her like the ringing of bells. The sound somehow comforted her and she stood up straight again, dropping her arms to her sides. What was she afraid of anyways?

His house wasn't far from hers. Its tall structure could be seen a good distance away, and Sakura spotted it without even having to look. In front of her stood the Li mansion, tall and patronizing, reminding her of every little detail about the last time she had visited. Li Syaoran had given her the letter of recruit, just to tease her probably.

She wavered.

As she turned around to go home, she found out her feet were ever so slowly stopping on the concrete sidewalk. She froze to the ground and stood unwavering. And the inner dialogue kicked in involuntarily.

'Why should I turn back? He offered a job that probably pays damn well. Li won't go back on his word… and how bad can it be, just mopping a few floors and cleaning some dishes?'

The more she thought about it, the more stupid it seemed to run away. So, she turned around once again and trudged up the front steps, one of her fists clenched the other outreached to press the doorbell. Someone answered at once, and she was greeted by an old man with a pleasant face. He smiled at her genuinely.

"You must be Miss Kinomoto?" He inquired, his eyes still partly closed with his smile.

Sakura nodded, smiling timidly back at the stranger.

"Please come this way, Master Syaoran has been expecting you." He led her down the hall, past the dining room and up the grand staircase. Sakura rolled her eyes, refusing to be awed by the wealth and power the Li family obviously owned. She would not be intimidated either by the nicely dressed butler in a tux, and the French maids who were all nodding politely to her as she passed.

Of course, Syaoran had planned all of this. It was his way of saying 'Welcome to my world, you poor pathetic Kinomoto.'

She would not be ridiculed in such a way, and thus held her head up high, smiling back at the strangers with her beautiful green eyes, challenging them with her beauty. However, in the back of her mind, she was pleading over and over again, 'don't trip, don't trip, not the time to be your own clumsy self Sakura.'

On the second story, at the end of the hall was a large room, the same size as their smaller living room, consisting of a 50 inch TV, a pool table, and of course, all the gaming systems. There were several large wooden cabinets, with their contents waiting to be revealed.

"This is the game room miss, Master Syaoran will be here shortly." The man bowed to her, and Sakura bowed back, feeling slightly uncomfortable with all the formality.

After the old man left, Sakura conveniently plopped herself down on one of the squishy couches and looked around, forcing her eyes off of things that were about to draw her to them with curiosity. It would just be so embarrassing if Syaoran came in with her rummaging through his cabinets, awed by the number of PS2 games he had.

A very large window was in the center of the far wall, along with a huge windowsill that was wide enough for people to sit on. Two small pillows were adorned on either side, and a large red curtain was split down the middle and tied into an intricate knot to hold in place on the outside edges of the windowpane. This was a feature that all the rooms shared, Sakura had noticed. It made more of the sunlight come into the rooms, and made everything seem so much more expensive.

"Damn him." She muttered with annoyance. No one in Tomoeda possessed half as what he had. How dare he just waltz into their small town and completely out contrast the small two story houses with this gigantic three-story mansion?

"What was that Kinomoto?" Came Syaoran's teasing voice from the doorway. Sakura snapped her head around, facing him with a look of hatred in her eyes.

"Why do you live in something like this?" She found herself asking as he walked towards her, his hands in his pocket, and his jeans just low enough to see the waistband of his red plaid boxers. It was like all the Americans do on television, she noticed and shook her head in disbelief. Syaoran ignored her question.

He wore a white wife-beater, his abs visible through the tightness of the material, and his arm muscles bulged on each side. An army chain was hung around his neck and his hair was messed up as usual, his bangs covering over his forehead and eyes in a sexy manner like he had just woken up. Sakura had to admit, he looked awfully fine, and delicious.

She swallowed as he pulled her up from the couch directly into his arms in a hug that she had never expected. It wasn't warm and comforting, and felt more like a formal greeting.

"Welcome to my house." He said breezily while Sakura took a breath of his clean soapy scent. Syaoran didn't wear any cologne; he never did, not even at school, or at that party if she remembered correctly.

Sakura pulled away, but stayed close enough to whisper.

"I, um, I'm here for that interview." She stumbled on her words and cursed herself for being nervous. Why was she letting him affect her like this?

Syaoran laughed.

"You should loosen up. Don't be nervous, this interview will go by in a flash." He whispered, pressing his forehead to hers, and inching his lips nearer. Sakura willed herself not to pull away, and met his lips with her soft pink ones, sucking gently while wishing that he was Yukito, not a bastard.

Syaoran didn't care what she thought. Having a hot girl like Sakura at his control was satisfying enough that he would be willing to pay her to cook and clean. He stuck his tongue into her opened and inviting mouth, roaming around where he pleased, making her whimper slightly as he bit into her lip gently with his teeth.

They were suddenly on the couch, Syaoran on top of her, kissing her neck as Sakura struggled to breathe. This was moving so fast, and everything was so different, she wanted to cry all over again. But she didn't; instead, she gripped Syaoran's hair with her hands, massaging his scalp as he moved his way down to her chest. She bit her lip and stiffened.

Syaoran ignored it and continued to unbutton her blouse, fingering the edge of her bra. He kissed her forehead, then the bridge of her nose, down to her chin and her collar bone, placing several wet kisses at the base of her neck, sucking so long and hard that Sakura moaned. The warm wetness of his mouth on her skin was so delightful, it helped her relax her frantic heartbeat and sink back into control.

She began to return the favor, kissing him on the chin and moving lower, her hands pressed on his chest and gently urging him up off of her. Now she was on top, her breasts hanging down in front of him, and she felt his eyes gazing lustfully at her body. She smirked, sucking on the hallow of his collar, placing warm moist kisses on his chest. She heard Syaoran groan and felt the hardness against her thigh.

She panicked for a split second, then pushed all thought of disgrace away from her mind. This was her revenge, and she was going to go through with it.

In an experimental motion, she moved her hips, grinding against his hardness and saw his mouth open into an expression of shock and pleasure. She licked her lips, meeting Syaoran's eyes and grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Syaoran had no idea how the tables turned so fast. One second, he had been teasing her, trying to intimidate her. Then the next, she was on top of him, making him want her to a degree he was so tempted to just pin her down and thrust himself into her over and over, tearing her apart.

Sakura continued to move her hips, pushing Syaoran down gently with her hands every now and then when he was getting rowdy, shaking her head and clucking her tongue like he had been a naughty boy. Syaoran would groan and give her a pleading look, and then let his fingers wander to the edge of her skirt. Sakura let him lift it just slightly before smoothing it out again, giving him another tsk tsk.

Syaoran was going crazy. Sakura's smooth body moved on top of him in a steady rhythm, damn blasted friction and how it was making him look so vulnerable to a girl he had planned to evoke the same reaction in. He cringed when he realized, plain as day she had won.

Then suddenly she was gone, on the other side of the couch, buttoning up her shirt. He scowled at her then sat up, his hand ruffling through his honey brown hair, messing it up, and then pushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"What the fuck Sakura." He demanded, his eyes angry as he watched her shrug carelessly.

"You were getting too carried away." She returned sweetly, smiling up at him and then leaning over to kiss his lips lightly, just once.

As she was walking out the door, her heels clicking on the wooden floor, Syaoran looked at her with vengeance.

"You passed your interview bitch. Come to work tomorrow after school." He said, flopping back on the cushions like a deflated fish. Then he smirked and added something else. "Get your own fuckin' ride."

(oOOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo)

"You what!" Tomoyo yelled, every bit of her posture and expression screamed disbelief.

Sakura giggled and placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder, telling her to calm down.

"Sakura you, and Li Syaoran? But I thought you hated him?"

Sakura shrugged. "Well, I'm just working there. I'm cleaning the house, and doing housework. I doubt he'll even be there most of the time." She replied, continuing to apply another coat of nail polish to her toes.

Tomoyo paused thoughtfully and inspected her friend. The depression over Yukito was definitely still there, she could see it in her eyes, but there was something else too. A new determination, a new driving force propelling her to do something. Maybe that was the reason why she suddenly took a job at the Li mansion, placing herself in the command of her enemy?

She shook her head, not comprehending the situation at all. It was odd really. Sometimes Sakura and Syaoran's hatred goes so deep, it made her wonder where it all went wrong. And then she would ask Sakura, who would bore her once again with the same flashback, and Tomoyo would roll her eyes, immediately remembering and regretting that she had asked.

Because Tomoyo loved Sakura, she analyzed her life through all perspectives, of which camera was her favorite. But the secret story between her and Syaoran was never openly recorded, and Tomoyo dwelled on memory to complete the pieces of puzzle that eventually created a fissure of hate.

Personally, Tomoyo could never figure out what went on between those two. It had been love-hate relationship from the beginning. When Syaoran just moved to Tomoeda, he had been so cold and cruel, teasing Sakura to tears while he sat contemptuously behind her. The teacher often scolded him, but little Syaoran thought he was invincible and never wavered for anyone.

Then suddenly the two were best friends. After a silly school research project, Syaoran seemingly developed a liking for Sakura. He walked her home, helped her with homework, and even held her books when they threatened to spill out of her arms. Tomoyo remembered how excited Sakura had been the day she received two valentine cards. One was naturally from Yukito, signed with the title 'brother' to signify how important Sakura was to him. The other was anonymous, signed with 'secret admirer' in a green pen. Three guesses to who that had been from.

Tomoyo suspected that Syaoran loved her first. Before Sakura was aware of her own true feelings, he had already fallen head over heels. But in the end, jealousy would corrupt him into hating her, pulling pranks, and only backtracking in his progress. Yukito had always been the obstacle he couldn't conquer. When boys mature and begin to form packs, Syaoran could no longer stay true to his real feelings. He disregarded Sakura, angry at her for never returning his feelings and resorting to all different types of girls. Finally him and his pack of wolves pulled the ultimate prank, killing any sense of admiration that Sakura could ever feel for him.

The incident came at a hard time in Sakura's life, and with Sakura's stubborn nature, she could never forgive him.

_Everyone had been looking forward to the class field trip. A weekend get away to Lake Akimoto, and a chance to stay in the log cabins in the nearby mountains. Eager students piled away on buses, singing songs on the way, and eventually falling asleep from boredom right before the bus pulled up. _

_It was a fun day, filled with activities. The trivial details Tomoyo couldn't remember so clearly. As she tried to recall, it was all a blur; save for the last happiness Sakura shared with Syaoran in the lake, when he threw her into the water only to jump in and pull her into his arms after she exclaimed she couldn't swim. That had been a lie of course, and Syaoran smiled at her cunning tactics to get him wet as well._

_During the middle of the day, Tomoyo lost Sakura. Lost, meaning literally no one could find her. No one knew where she was, and neither did anyone spot Syaoran or his gang. At night, the teachers were finally guiltily reported to. They had searched everywhere during the day, but at last, authority had to be notified._

_In the morning they found her, huddled by a large oak tree halfway up the mountain, her pitiful arm wrapped around her shaking form. When Tomoyo asked Sakura about it, she simply told her Syaoran led her up the mountain to show her the view, then promptly took off, finally losing her half way. She couldn't find her way down, and terrified of the dark and what was in the woods, she tried calling out for help. But no one heard her, and Syaoran never came to look for her. Finally, with her broken heart, she sat down next the largest tree she could find and cried herself to exhausted sleep._

_But she was wrong about one part. Syaoran did look for her. In fact, he scared the wits out of everyone with that desperate look on his face. Never in the world did he think Kinomoto would get lost. It was a simple trail, and all she had to do was follow it back to camp. When he finally saw her again, she was home safe with Yukito. _

_"What's wrong with her?" He had asked coldly, jealousy so evident that Tomoyo felt a twinge of satisfaction. She turned on Li; her usually pleasant and nice smile gone._

_"I don't think she'll ever forgive you now." She said, meaning every word, and secretly hoping she never will. _

_And at the time, both girls were stuck on loyalty to each other. Things that could have been forgiven were regarded much more seriously with everyone else's influence. Syaoran hurt Sakura, so Tomoyo would hurt him back. They would both hate him till the end of time._

So that was that; the beginning of the hatred, and long line of hurtful things that they traded back and forth. Then Sakura's dad died, and even then Syaoran didn't give her a rest. It was all so sad and unnecessarily dramatic. Soon after, Tomoyo moved away for two years, and now it was everyone's senior year at Tomoeda High.

Sakura had been through so much alone, accompanied only by the jeering taunts of the 'popular' boys and girls. There was guilt in the depth of Tomoyo's heart. If only she had told Sakura how worried Syaoran was, instead of holding on to the selfish grudge that Sakura was paying more and more attention to him, and less to her.

Maybe, Sakura working at Syaoran's mansion was a turning point in their awful history. Maybe the two would end up being friends?

_Or maybe much more…_

"Hello? Earth to Tomoyo?" Sakura called in a singsong voice as she waved her palm in front of Tomoyo's lavender eyes.

Tomoyo smiled at her best friend.

"You know what, I think this job is a great idea." She found herself saying, reaching over and smoothing out Sakura's hair. She admired her friend's beauty but felt great regret at the way Sakura never showed it's true potential.

"Come here." Tomoyo commanded, patting the stool by her dresser and pulling out her make-up kit.

Sakura groaned. "Not again Tomoyo. I don't like cow dung on my face!" She whined, but already moving her feet and where Tomoyo stood with a powder brush in hand.

"It's almost five Sakura. You've got to get to work soon. Hurry up and let me do this." Tomoyo said pleasantly, dusting off bronze powder on Sakura's cheekbones and eyelids.

She applied a thin line of bronze eyeliner on her top lid, then pasted on some tan colored eye shadow. She curled Sakura's eyelashes and applied three coats of mascara.

"Tomoyo! What are you doing!" Sakura yelled, wandering if she looked like a slut already. But Tomoyo wasn't allowing her to look in the mirror.

She lined Sakura's eyes with a faded teal liner from the inner corner of her eye to the outside corner, then finished with a tab of blush and some fruity lip gloss on Sakura's pouting lips.

"On second thought, I don't want to look." Sakura announced as she grabbed her school bag, and head out the door, waved a goodbye to her friend and smiled at her, winking.

Tomoyo admired her masterpiece. Any sane man could not resist Sakura, especially not when she wore that innocent looking outfit.

(OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo)

"Konnichiwa." Sakura greeted pleasantly, nodding to the butler named Wei. He bowed right back, and took his position in front of her.

"Today we can tour the mansion, and I'll assign you your jobs." He said in a polite tone, gesturing with his gloved hand to the grand salon.

The high ceiling had one giant chandelier dangling from it, but since the sun was still high in the sky, the light that was pouring through the large windows illuminated the room fully. Sakura imagined when the chandelier was turned on, the entire atmosphere would shine with golden light, and the shadows on the wall would move left and right, perhaps servants bustling around the Li mansion, or perhaps guests dancing to ballroom music. It was something Sakura had seen before in the soaps, where the girl would be invited to the boy's home for the first time, and she would awe at the structure of the house, complimenting the nice pieces of decorations. Sakura thought about the time when she first saw Yukito's house. Strangely, she didn't remember any specific detail that she had paid attention to. But then again, Yukito had a humble home that wasn't anything compared to Syaoran's mansion.

"This is the grand salon. It's what you will be helping clean. Every piece of decoration needs to be dusted, as well as the counters and windowsills."

Sakura nodded along, signally she understood. Her eyes skimmed over a few more pieces of furniture, and some decorative pieces. There were new pieces of art that Sakura didn't remember seeing before. When she was friends with Syaoran, he had invited her to his house several times, but she seldomly complied. Now, it felt like she was seeing it for the first time.

There was a large framed painting on the north wall. As she stared at it, the beautiful seawater stared back at her, glittering different shades of blue and white, signifying the crashing waves. Sakura looked at the painting long and hard, trying to think of where this was. Perhaps it was Hong Kong, Syaoran's real home.

"Never mind Wei." Suddenly came Syaoran's command. He stood perched on the staircase, two of his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was still wearing his soccer uniform, and Sakura spotted grass stains on his shorts. Sakura averted her eyes and did not stare into his gaze, but she felt his eyes look her over.

"She'll be coming with me today. I'll show her upstairs." He continued curtly, snaking his fingers around Sakura's forearms.

Sakura stepped back slightly but Wei didn't seem to notice.

"Yes Master Syaoran." The butler said, bowing to both of them.

As soon as he left, Sakura felt Syaoran's grip tighten on her arm. She whimpered slightly as he led her up two flights of stairs straight into his bedroom. She deliberately tried to slow down as she took step after step, but Syaoran kept propelling her forward.

"Li, let go of me." She demanded, trying to wring her arm from his grasp. He didn't answer her but opened the large wooden door and locked it right behind him.

Syaoran spun around; placing both hands on her shoulders and threw her on the bed.

Sakura began to panic.

"Li no!" Sakura yelled, pushing him off of her with her hands. Sakura smelled the sweat on Syaoran's clothes and felt the dampness of his skin as he pressed his face near hers. He lifted her arms effortlessly and pinned them above her head, eyes raking over her body. His chest was pressed tightly to hers as he laid on top of her, breathing into her face.

"Are you scared Kinomoto?" He said in a cruel voice, licking his lips and then licking hers.

Sakura squirmed away.

"Let go, you bastard!" She struggled, attempting to kick him in the shins with her free right foot. He trapped it within his legs and kissed her lips again, hard, crushing her beneath him.

Sakura was losing it, as fear was overtaking her, she felt her lungs freeze up. They were gasping for breath as tears burned her eyes.

"Syaoran, please stop." She pleaded, her voice coming in gasps. Rape wasn't something she had planned on. She felt so vulnerable and helpless; she cursed herself for trying to act like a naughty girl, like she knew how to handle these circumstances. The truth was that she couldn't, and never had been capable of fending off situations like these, especially when Syaoran was there.

"Are you gonna cry?" Syaoran mocked, releasing her arms and crawling off of her. Sakura sat up immediately and moved to strike him. He caught her hand easily, his eyes not leaving her face. He dared her to let that tear drop, and as much as Sakura tried to stop it, it rolled down her cheek, landing on one of Syaoran's hands.

Syaoran flinched, as if someone had stabbed him. His eyes widened and he quickly placed both hands around Sakura's face, wiping away more tears as they fell one after the other.

"Oh shit." He muttered, and his face contorted into an expression in between disbelief and misery.

"Wait Sakura stop, I didn't ..." He shook his head, messing up his hair and then pressed his forehead to hers.

"Sakura look at me." He commanded, hoping that she would stop giving him that look of a frightful little bird. Kinomoto Sakura never looked like that, at least not in front of him. And not since that one time when…

Sakura couldn't meet his gaze. She cringed when he touched her, and began pulling away automatically, curling her legs up in front of her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"Sakura..." Syaoran whispered, shifting his position and moving behind her on the bed. He encircled her waist with his limbs and held her loosely. He gently kissed her hair, and when she did not shrug him off, gained slightly more confidence and tightened his grip hesitantly.

Sakura tried with all her might to stop her fit, and quit crying like a little girl. But she couldn't, and the fact the Li was still touching her didn't help at all.

"I don't think you should..." She suddenly began and hiccupped in between.

Syaoran immediately let her go as if she had burned him.

"Right. Of course not." He said to no one in particular and exited the room in a hurry.

Sakura sat on the bed, dull eyes devoid of emotion, watching the empty doorway.

AN: Next chapter Syaoran will be needing to apologize to Sakura. But would he put down his pride enough to do it properly? And another thing, how do you insert breaks in the chapters? I put stars, but they always disappear? Haha.. I feel dumb asking this question. Anyways, everyone have a good night and please read and review.


	6. Wheels

AN: Big apologies for getting this out so late!

Come What May Ch. 6 Wheels

The first thing she did after she got home was call him.

She felt so utterly empty inside as she dialed the familiar numbers with her fingers. Kero nudged her in her legs, begging permission to come onto her bed. She ignored him and sat down, dangling her legs over the edge and held the phone rigidly in her hand. The tone dialed once, and then twice, as Sakura stared blankly at the pink wall opposite her. Her left hand trembled slightly at first, until it got unbearable that she had to clench her fists tightly together. Finally, he picked up.

"Hello?"

It was always simple and polite. Discreet and soft.

"Hi." She whispered back, trying to keep her breathing even. Her emotions and thoughts were caught in a weird combination, with her feelings running wild, and her thoughts completely void of any intelligible logic.

"Sakura?" He acknowledged her, and sensed immediately something was wrong. He didn't ask her directly yet, but she could tell with the change of pitch in his voice. It was higher, and sounded sharp. He must be worried about her.

"Yes Yukito, it's me." She paused and took a deep breath. "How are you?"

Kero tilted his head at her, and Sakura scratched his ears idly. The dog seemed to be asking her why she was being so formal with Yuki all of other sudden. But Sakura knew Kero didn't understand anything. It was probably her own heart asking her that question.

"Oh I'm doing great." His voice was cheerful again, but sounded a little preoccupied. Sakura listened hard, and finally caught another faint whisper in the background. But then it wasn't a whisper anymore, and Sakura could hear the clear voice of a woman, calling out Yukito's name.

'Oh my god.' Sakura realized. 'Is she spending the night?'

She looked out the window, and the sun was barely grazing the horizon. It wasn't even 7 yet. Why would she assume Yumi would be staying the night? It was utterly ridiculous, spurred purely from her imagination and envy. What was she turning into? Her heart clenched. But was that why he sounded worried? He must be feeling guilty. He wasn't worried about her, he just didn't want her to hear Yumi's voice. How horrible, how utterly disgusting.

"Sakura? Are you still there?"

This has got to be the most awkward conversation, Sakura thought. I'm just wasting his time.

"Never mind Yukito."

And with that she hung up. She knew her voice had sounded harsh and bitterly jealous and she didn't even try to hide it. She wanted him to know the truth. She wanted him to know he hurt her once again. But was Yukito the only person that hurt her? What about Syaoran? She unplugged the phone so no one would call her anymore.

Silently, she guided Kero out the door and shut it softly with a click. She lifted the pink covers of her bed and crawled in, still wearing her jeans and slippers. She buried her face in a pillow and curled her body to herself.

Then she cried.

(OoOoOoOoOoOo)

"Can I talk to you?"

Sakura had seen him approach from a mile away. He was uncertain, and kept running his hair through the honey brown mess. His eyes shifted left and right as he occasionally gave a high-five or a hug to a passerby. Sakura rolled her eyes, watching a few more girls giggle as he left them. How completely unfair was that? So many girls loved him, and he was nice to them. But why couldn't he just be _nice_ to her? Why did he have to treat her like that? She realized she was in no mood to talk to him after all. When he finally reached her and asked the question, she already knew the answer.

"Nope." She answered bluntly, and childishly, beginning to turn her heel.

Syaoran reached out and grabbed her upper arm. "Stop for a second." He commanded. His strong grip seemed to burn her. Sakura stiffened and Syaoran instinctively released her. She stubbornly refused to look at him, the fear in her heart still remaining from yesterday. But why wasn't she kicking and screaming yet?

Syaoran sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I know I was a big asshole yesterday, and that Touya will probably kill me, but can we please just talk really quick?"

He sounded so sincere, Sakura thought sarcastically, and she almost wavered. But in the depth of her heart, she knew she wasn't ready. There were things she had to sort out with herself before she could bring herself to talk to him again. For now, she only had one option and that was to retreat before the enemy hurt her while she was wounded.

Sakura shrugged, turned, and walked away.

When she was a good distance off, probably just to where Syaoran thought she couldn't hear him anymore, she heard a string of curses. Sakura felt just a tad bit better, at least he had tried to make mends. But she just needed time.

The next few days passed with a deathly silence between the pair. Syaoran seemed to understand that she needed space, and avoided her when all possible. He was never home when she showed up for work. None of the maids spoke to her except when all necessary, and always in a polite and courteous tone.

Tomoyo seemed to notice something had gone astray again between the two and ignored it happily. She was acting as the barrier between little sweet Sakura, and big bad Syaoran. It was her duty to protect her best friend. Sakura was her sister, and she would always be there for her. Syaoran didn't deserve her. But more and more, she was noticing the way he would stare at her. Sometimes when she caught him during one of the history lectures, Tomoyo could swear she saw between the fleeting glances one of the most pained and complicated looks on his face. His brows would be tightened and his jaw clenched, his eyes slightly drooping, but his gaze held just enough to keep their pupils on her form.

_Why is he always watching her like that?_

"Who can tell me what Calvin contributed to the Protestant Reformation?"

Sakura raised her hand eagerly.

"Yes Kinomoto-san."

Sakura smiled her trademark smile and mumbled something. The teacher was satisfied and continued after the attention getter. As usual, Tomoyo snuck one glance at Syaoran, and saw that he was licking his lips.

A shiver went down Tomoyo's spine, and she regretted having that conversation with Sakura in the courtyard about Syaoran. She made it seem like she trusted him. Tomoyo would never trust Li. Ever.

As Tomoyo turned back to the substitute's lecture, Syaoran took his eyes off of Sakura and glanced at the ravine haired girl. He stopped pretending to even be remotely interested in what Professor Nakamura's substitute was saying and rose out of his seat.

"Is there a problem Li?"

Syaoran shrugged. "Just stretching my legs."

As he suspected, Tomoyo immediately turned to shoot a look of disgust at him, and he smiled at her.

"Excuse me?"

Syaoran smiled. "I apologize. That was rude of me. Actually I wanted to make a comment on the um…" he quickly glanced at his book which had stayed open to the same page for the past ten minutes. "oh, on the Calvinists."

(0o0o0o0o00o0oo0)

Tomoyo stood outside by the practice field, waiting patiently for Eriol to notice her. It didn't take long, and he flashed her a silent smile. Tomoyo administered one back and promptly sat down on the long wooden bench.

The boys were at after school practice, working extra hard for the soccer tournament in October. All of them looked nice, sweating and laughing, but Tomoyo focused on Eriol alone. His hair blew across his face occasionally with the wind and he would brush it to the side, and gracefully push up his glasses. Then, he would proceed with his pass, angling his arms in front of him and pulling his leg back. The ball would go flying after one swift kick and land directly in front of the person Eriol had intended. Tomoyo watched him, beaming with pride.

Syaoran was another sight. He was the captain, and the air of authority buzzed around him. It was rare to see the womanizer so into anything, and Tomoyo had a hunch why no one dared to mess with the Tomoeda High Soccer team. Syaoran trained his group of lackeys to be just as cocky and irritating. To be inducted into their team, and made a formal member was like joining a cult. It was mandatory for each of the players to attend each party that Syaoran throws, and always they had to bring at least two more girls. Syaoran yelled at them as he saw fit, but everyone respected their captain. And Tomoyo had to admit, he did have an uncanny athletic ability as well as the perfect personality for leadership. He probably used his influences to their full potential and spoiled the team with extra bonuses and advantages after each victory. Maybe that was one of the reasons the boys worked so hard?

Tomoyo shook her head clearing her thoughts and centered again on Eriol. She wasn't quite so sure if he liked her still, since she had been gone for two years. He must have had many girlfriends during that time, and the assumption made her stomach twist with jealousy.

She came to this practice, hoping to get a chance to catch Eriol later on, and that maybe, just maybe, they could talk and catch up. She quite missed the intellectual conversations they interchanged about politics and art history. Those were subjects only Eriol would discuss with her, seeing as how Sakura was way too dense in the concepts. She also missed the after school adventures they used to take around town, where she would pick up unusual ornaments, beautifully made silk material with intricate patterns, and fine lace. Then, Eriol would treat her to a pretzel in a nearby bakery and the two sometimes took a walk by the lake afterwards. After Tomoyo got home, she would pile her new discoveries on the table and begin the process of making another unique, stylish, and gorgeous dress.

How she missed those days, she realized. Everything felt like a sentimental memory nowadays, reflecting the stories of yesteryears, matching precisely with how she remembered them in her head. She couldn't help thinking back to when Eriol first moved to town, Syaoran almost beat him to a bloody pulp. The image brought a nostalgic smirk to her face, as she observed their perfect coordination and teamwork on the field. People really do change.

She checked her watch and it signaled that practice would be over in 20 minutes. She swatted the air around her and fanned herself unconsciously while her eyes followed the path of the soccer ball on the field. She quickly became absorbed in the practice match they were playing. Both sides were going at it with enthusiasm, cheering animatedly, and sometimes shouting disagreeable curses at each other.

Tomoyo giggled as Eriol caught her eyes and held it within his own. They were half a soccer field away, but she felt that he was right next to her and whispered for him to come over. She saw him shake his head slightly and frowned.

_What?_

Then her question was answered as Syaoran began to stalk towards the bench instead, his hair damp with sweat and pushed up into unruly spikes with a few strokes of his fingers. As he neared her, he pulled off his dark blue T-shirt swiftly and threw it across the grass towards the other pile of discarded jerseys.

"Hi." He greeted warmly.

Tomoyo nodded, looking away from the half naked boy. The two had never really mended their half friendship.

"How's Sakura doing?" He began easily, tossing Tomoyo a smart smile.

"Fine." She pursed her lips and looked past his testing gaze, acting uneasy.

Syaoran could sense the emotions that ran through Tomoyo. He shrugged.

"Um, could you do me a favor?"

Tomoyo frowned. Of course not, this was Li Syaoran that was asking her?

"I don't know, maybe." She chose to say instead.

Syaoran snorted. "Well first, get rid of that attitude."

"Don't tell me what to do Li." Tomoyo snapped right back.

"Call me Syaoran." He suddenly said, extending his hand and patting Tomoyo on the shoulder gently.

"What?" Tomoyo blurted rudely, a look of utter disbelief flashed across her face.

"Call me Syaoran?" Syaoran gave Tomoyo a cross look, cocking one of his eyebrows in the process.

Tomoyo shook her head." You can't just do this you know. We haven't really been.."

"Yeah I know. But things can change right?"

"I suppose?" She returned, still frowning slightly.

"Two years was a long time." Syaoran started again with a sigh.

"It's weird, seeing you talk about things. Or hearing rather.." Tomoyo commented, while she racked her brain for the answers to Syaoran's strange actions. Perhaps it was her return that signaled an end to the ongoing war between the two sides? Or maybe, it was still all about Sakura.

"Yeah well, I'm in a good mood today."

"So what was that favor?"

"Can you get Sakura to talk to me?"

"Why would you want to?"

"Do you always return a question with a question?"

"Does it bother you?"

A smile broke on to Syaoran's face as he rolled his eyes.

"It's been a long time Tomoyo."

"Are you tired of me already?"

"You are just so witty aren't you?"

"Are you suggesting something?"

"Ok ok." He raised both his hands, admitting defeat.

Practice should have been over by now, so why wasn't anyone clearing the field? Syaoran just stared at her with that calculating look on his face. He knew she wouldn't hold it against him forever, and he knew she would be the first to crack. Tomoyo wasn't intimidated, but the secret they shared would threaten to spill from his lips if she did not do what he wanted. Sakura couldn't learn of the unfaithful betrayal Tomoyo exhibited against her that night by the lake. If Sakura knew the truth behind how desperate Syaoran was looking for her, she would put two and two together to know that Tomoyo had lied to her.

"So.." Tomoyo prompted him, trying to hide the look of defeat in her eyes.

Syaoran smirked and fixed his eyes on her long and hard. He chuckled and began again.

"Me and Sakura.. we've always had that thing." He paused, taking a dramatic breath. It's… complicated."

"I know." Tomoyo said quietly, her voice sounding far from her ears.

A big gust of wind suddenly blew past, picking up Tomoyo's hair and twirling it around the air like silky ribbons. She tried to pull them down in alarm, but the playful breeze ruffled them wild again. It was comical, and this sudden change of mood brought Tomoyo back down to earth. Syaoran however didn't even seem to notice, he stared out blankly, heavy thoughts evidently weighing on his mind. Tomoyo widened her eyes and gazed at him expectantly. And as surprising as it came, the wind subsided and everything was peaceful again. Only then did Syaoran snap out of his trance. He stared at her wild disarrayed hair for a split second and lifted his eyebrow in amusement.

"I just don't want you to think that.. I would harm her in any way." He said absently, turning his face away again.

Tomoyo was so lost. She stared at his side profile, noting how perfect everything looked on his face. She couldn't figure out where this was going, or what any of it meant. She couldn't play mind games with anyone, especially Syaoran. The boy was so complicated, she would never dream of being able to fathom his nature.

"You wouldn't huh?" She returned carelessly, getting up to leave.

"Even though we hate each other. I wouldn't physically hurt her." He explained quickly, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down next to him. Tomoyo turned her eyes to him in annoyance, biting her lip nervously.

"I'll do it okay?" She said impatiently, hastily getting up to walk away.

Syaoran frowned at her. What's gotten into her?

(OoOoOoOoOoO)

"So you and Li are friends again?" Sakura accused, frowning from the other end of the phone.

"Well, not exactly." Tomoyo quickly argued, not wanting Sakura to be angry with her.

"The last time I checked, you hated him as much as me." Sakura returned, raising her voice slightly with exasperation. She felt cheated for some odd reason, and didn't know why she was taking it out on Tomoyo.

"I was gone for so long Sakura. I don't know what all happened between you too during that time. But today we just talked, and it was … it was just fine ok?"

She heard an unbelievable gasp from the phone.

"Tomoyo! He's a cheater, a liar, a player, a bastard!"

"You're the one working for him. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be at the Li Mansion already?"

Sakura shook her head, not knowing why she did because Tomoyo obviously couldn't see her.

"No, I'm taking a sick day."

"Yeah, you left school early today too."

Sakura slumped back in her chair and grabbed for a nearby magazine.

"I'll talk to you later ok?" She suddenly didn't want to talk to Tomoyo anymore.

"Alright. Call if you need anything." Tomoyo answered warily before hanging up.

Sakura flipped through a few pages of the newest fashion for winter, and then threw it back onto her desk. She got up out of her swirly chair and collapsed on the bed, burying her head in the pillows.

'What is wrong with me?' She muttered, feeling utterly empty inside and not knowing the least bit why. Her heart beat uneasily within in her breast cage and finally she jumped out of bed.

She turned on her radio and listened to the newest release by 'Cool Joke'. After a while that was getting on her nerves too and she flipped off the switch angrily. She paced back and forth between her desk and her bed a couple of times, then grabbed her purse in a hurry and dashed out the door.

(OoOoOoOoOoOoO)

When she finally stood in front of the Li Mansion, she calmed her nerves at the sight of Syaoran's car and walked up the front steps. In a matter of minutes, she located where he was and approached him shyly.

"Hi."

He looked up from his game of pool with an expression of utter shock. The stick was still poised over a striped ball, and his fingers were keeping the tip precisely in place. His bangs hung over his eyes in a sexy manner and Sakura took a deep breath. He stood up, straightening the stick to his side and crossed his arms.

"You're late." He replied simply, even when he was trying to hide his emotions, he smiled at her warmly.

Sakura shrugged and offered a small smile back.

A complete look of relief washed over Syaoran and he tossed the stick in his hand against the wall. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and grinned awkwardly at Sakura. His eyes had a look of uncertainty about them, and Sakura waited patiently for him to make the first move. All the while, she had the chance to admire his nicely toned body beneath the white cotton shirt. As Syaoran approached her, she didn't back away and allowed him to wrap his arms around her frame.

"I'm sorry." He whispered softly into her ear, and Sakura nodded against his back.

"We can go back to hating each other safely now right?" He joked, patting her head softly.

"I was never scared of you Li." Sakura bit back, grinning into his shoulder.

Syaoran didn't reply and Sakura pulled out of his embrace to look into his eyes. It was terribly cliché, her eyelashes blinking curiously at him while he stared down at her with a incomprehendable expression.

"That's not… all I'm sorry for." He finally managed, then kissed her lightly on the forehead.

Sakura took a while to intake this new information, and decided that he sounded sincere enough. Two years was a considerable amount of time to let something go. Especially now that she thought of it, the whole ordeal was kind of silly. Syaoran had been her close friend before, so why shouldn't she trust him again?

Sakura suddenly remembered the hurt, and the feeling of having her heart crack into exactly one million pieces, and cringed. So she wouldn't trust him that much, but somewhere in the back of her mind she just knew, the hate relationship had gone lopsided, and it was just a game to see which one of them could pretend longer than the other.

"Sakura?" Syaoran jolted her awake from her analyzing and suddenly his lips were pressed against hers.

Sakura blocked away all of her silly thoughts and him take over. It would be a while before she had the guts to face the real music.

_That emotion, after all these years, maybe I never let him go. Maybe I still miss him._

(OoOoOoOoOoOoO)

Nothing really changed between the two. At school, they acted like they always had, bickering and bitching at each other frequently, often followed by another angry outburst from the teacher. In public, wherever Syaoran went, he was followed by his crew, girls still clung to his arms while he pampered them with money and sweets. Sakura still eyed all of this with distaste, but she found out to her surprise, that she couldn't tear her eyes away anymore. Whenever he was around her, her eyes strayed on his nicely built body, his amber eyes, (if they ever looked her way) and then trailed to Minami, or Rei, walking beside him. She frowned at the sight, but said nothing.

Tomoyo had long sensed something between the pair and questioned Sakura frequently. Sakura simply shrugged and said everything was as it was, as always. It was then that Tomoyo would tilt her head and smile wistfully, nodding her head in sarcastic agreement. Sakura ignored that too.

When she was alone with Syaoran however, sometimes he would pull her into his arms and whisper sweet things that made Sakura's stomach turn. She wasn't sure if it was disgust, or… flattery? He would claim he was joking, and that he cared for her as much as he did Minami, Rei, Yuri, and the list goes on and on.

So things continued, the cycle of lies and pleasure repeating over and over. Sakura didn't feel like the whirlpool had sucked her in just yet; and she was willing to test it out a few more times. Many instances, she almost came close to asking him. But then her words died on her tongue and she slumped back into his embrace without another protest.

And then Shubun no hi came along, and Touya came with Yukito. And Yumi.

The dusted off the graves and put laid down fresh flowers. Sakura's eyes remained dry while she watched and remembered.

Afterwards she excused herself ignoring the looks of worry that Touya kept sending her, and took off.

(OoOoOoOoOoO)

Sakura honestly had no idea where her feet were taking her. All she heard was pounding of concrete as her foot splashed through the rainwater. Pitter, platter, splish splash. She ran blindly along the familiar sidewalk and rounded another corner, almost bumping into a little kid in her haste. She muttered an apology and suddenly stopped running, relieving her lungs of the dreadful pressure so they could catch up with her speeding heart.

She looked down at her drenched clothing, then promptly sneezed, indicating that she should get out of the weather. Looking at her surroundings, she immediately figured out where she was.

Li's Mansion was just down past one more block.

She didn't know why, but she started trudging forward in that direction.

"You are really pathetic you know that." Came Syaoran's sneering voice as he dried her hair with a towel.

Sakura didn't answer, her heart was still pounding painfully within her rib cage and now she had the shivers.

Syaoran looked down at her worriedly.

"I just insulted you Kinomoto."

Again she did not reply, but let the images of Yumi and Yukito play over and over in her mind. She heard his unspoken words again and again like a broken recorder. Wallowing in her misery and almost angry with herself for being so weak, Sakura really had no time for Syaoran's merciless teasing.

"Uh Sakura?" Syaoran waved his hands across her face as he placed the other hand on her shoulder.

She didn't even blink.

"Ok. You better sit down." With a gentle push, he sat her down on the mattress and threw the towel aside.

"What happened?" He asked gently, slightly surprising himself with his soft tone.

Sakura shook her head and ignored him. But when she finally looked up there were tears in her eyes.

"He.." She began, and then choked on her words. It was pathetic to tell Syaoran about her girly feelings. As if he didn't already make fun of her enough. No way was she tell him more.

Syaoran stared at her with an odd expression on his face. It was a mixture between sympathy and annoyance, and Sakura couldn't quite place why he was looking at her like that.

"I'll be right back." He announced and left the guest bedroom.

A few minutes later he returned with a single tall glass of pinkish beverage and a bottle of tequila in his other hand. He handed the cup to Sakura and urged her to gulp down the liquid. She did so without question, enjoying the fruity taste and the strong effect of alcohol.

"How does it taste?" He asked, picking up the towel again and working on back of her wet head.

"Sweet." Sakura remarked, taking another sip.

"Strawberry Slurry. Very girly stuff." He shrugged, setting the towel around her shoulders, blanketing it from her hair.

"It's nice and strong." She added.

Syaoran smirked. "That's kind of the point."

(OoOoOoOoO)

Tomoyo looked out the window at the lonely field before her house. Today was the day Sakura would visit Nadeshiko and Fujitaka's grave. She wondered why Sakura hadn't called her yet. Supposedly, she was going to sleep over. But where was she?

Tomoyo checked her cellphone, flipping the pink lid aside and going through her phone list. Only one name caught her eye.

Li Syaoran.

Who else would Sakura turn to instead of her?

Tomoyo felt the vaguely familiar sense of jealousy and betrayal in her systems. But she knew it was hopeless and stupid. Sakura didn't belong to her after all. The two shared an unbreakable bond of friendship. But what did she share with Syaoran? It seemed so much more than layer of hate they put on the outside. Tomoyo knew better. Ever since Syaoran asked her that tiny favor or relaying a simple message to Sakura, she knew how he felt about her still. He wouldn't give her up a second time, and it would only be a matter time before his original possessiveness showed.

Eriol had paid her a visit in the afternoon and they visited the lake by themselves near sunset. She suddenly touched her fingers to her lips, remember how sweet they felt against his as the last ray of sparkling sun shed from her hair. He had bent over to whisper how beautiful she looked in her ear. Tomoyo longed to see that moment again in history. If only there was someone around to record her life as she had faithfully done for Sakura.

Suddenly the phone rang.

Tomoyo jerked on her bed and grabbed for it immediately. Her eyes froze when they registered the number on the screen. What did he want?

"Hello?" She answered tentatively.

"Hi Tomoyo." The cocky voice she knew all too well replied.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "What do you want Li?"

He chuckled. "Still annoyed with me eh?"

Tomoyo ignored him.

"Well, your little friend has gotten drunk over here. And-"

"WHAT!" Tomoyo blurted out.

"- she mumbled something about going over to your house." He finished without even pausing. "I'm just informing you that she'll be staying at my mansion tonight."

Tomoyo was speechless. "Li Syaoran! What are you trying to pull, Sakura is a virgin and she's too young to succumb to..."

A sparkling laugh. "Oh no she's not Tomoyo. Don't ever call her that again sweetheart."

He hung up.

(0o0o0o0o0o0oo0)

Sakura was sprawled horizontally across the bed, while Syaoran lay on his back, one of his arm behind his head. They formed a diagonal 'T', with Sakura's head was pillowed on Syaoran's chest. A ceiling fan turned round and round above them, sending spasms of humming sounds into the air. Sakura listened silently, comforted by the sheer quietness and the warmth the emitted off Syaoran. All of this emphasized the silence that had settled between the pair, a comfortable and serene atmosphere. Syaoran stroked her hair idly, staring up at the ceiling. He heard her shuffle slightly and felt her shift her head from his chest into a slightly more comfortable position.

"Honestly, I've loved him all my life." She said quietly, another tear rolling down her cheek. "But he just… won't look at me."

Syaoran rubbed her hair patiently while he rolled his eyes unknown to her.

"I'm just a little girl to him, his little sister. I don't understand things like they do. They've always left me out." She continued, hiccupping now and then.

"Mmhmm." Syaoran murmured.

"I've never had sex, and I didn't even kiss a boy until I was in middle school. And you know how I am, I am no where near being a sophisticated woman." She complained broken- heartedly.

"Yeah well, you've had some experience now." Syaoran tried to keep the sarcasm in his voice to a minimum. Whilst in the back of his mind, he wondered just who it was that she had kissed. A spur of jealousy flew through him, and he knew it was ridiculous. She was probably lying anyways.

"I thought that if I changed myself, he would look my way. But it's not quite –hiccup- what I wanted it to be."

Syaoran continued patting her head softly, cuing her to keep speaking.

"And then Touya left, leaving me all alone in my house. Yukito went to college with him, and he met Yumi."

Syaoran let out a wary sigh. This was going to be a long night.

"Why don't you get over him, find someone else?"

"I've tried," She choked, "I always can't help but like him again."

"You are really pathetic Sakura."

"Be quiet. You've never loved someone. You wouldn't have a clue."

"So quick to doubt me eh? How do you know I've never loved?"

Sakura scoffed. "Because Li, it's so obvious. Those girls you pick up, you probably tell them you love them the next day. Love isn't like that, it's supposed to be shy and timid at first." She paused, her eyes half shut with exhaustion.

"You sound so profound and wise." He returned.

Sakura shrugged. "My parents taught me."

Syaoran propped his head up with an arm and attempted to look at the girl lounging lazily across his bed. She had her eyes closed, her countenance expressionless, her pain temporarily forgotten due to his administrations, the alcohol that finally kicked in or his gentle emotional support.

"It must be nice, to have parents that love you so much." He found himself whispering almost inaudibly.

"What did you say?" She looked up at him and their eyes met. He felt mesmerized by the swirls of emerald bits of brown. It was like two imagines fitting into one.

"Oh nothing." He whispered gently. Syaoran looped an arm around Sakura's waist and lifted her off the bed. She gave a yelp of surprise then giggled when he dropped her next to him. Sakura nestled herself in his arms and pressed her head in the crook of his neck.

"Well, I'm sleepy." She said quietly.

"You are? Me too." Syaoran returned, kissing the tip of her nose once and rubbing her back lightly with his hand. It was affectionate, almost … loving. He couldn't believe what he was doing, but then again it didn't matter, she wouldn't be able to remember such small details.

"I don't wanna go home." She continued her childish complaint, feeling so safe in Syaoran's muscular arms.

"You're not going home." He whispered into her ear.

"You might rape me." She suddenly blurted out and Syaoran almost laughed.

"Be quiet Sakura." Syaoran said tiredly and pulled the covers up over them.

"Hmm." Was the last thing she said before drifting to slumber.

Touya was confused about everything. How had he let his kajuu get so out of hand? It was midnight, and she still had not returned. Kero had barked unhappily at him, signaling his distress for his mistress. Yukito, that damn bastard. Was he the cause of all of this?

Deep in his mind, he knew all of this drama had gotten a little out of hand. At first it had just been about Yukito. Then Sakura met another boy. Touya couldn't remember just what his name was, but he was from Hong Kong, and had the worst attitude he had ever seen. His fists clenched just thinking about it. Touya had noticed a change in his sister after she and that boy stopped communicating. It was annoying to think of the possibility that he was the cause of her unhappiness. But where was she now? Was she with him?

But, the most troubling thing to him was finding that letter in her draw. It was asking to recruit her as part of the staff in the Li mansion.

Li!

Now he remembered the name of the boy. Li Syaoran. The richest in all of Tomoeda.

Touya's shoulders tightened as he crossed boy arms across his chest. He'll be damned if he ever let that boy hurt his baby sister.

(OoOoOoOoOo) 

It wasn't quite the rude awakening this time. Sakura had lazily opened her eyes and found Syaoran looking at her with his amber ones, studying her features as his hand absently stroked the curve between her hips and her waist. She blushed, tearing her gaze away from him and buried her face in the pillows.

"Are you feeling better?" Syaoran looked down at the girl in his arms, wondering why he just asked such a strange question. Lots of girls have been in this situation before, but he never stayed with them until they woke up. Usually, his first sentence was to offer them a ride home. Yet, he found himself wanting to converse with Kinomoto.

"This feels surreal." Sakura replied quietly, lifting her head and getting over her embarrassment. She snuggled closer to Syaoran and breathed deeply, taking in his clean soapy scent.

"What do you mean?" He asked gently, tucking in a few stray glands of her hair behind her ear.

"I can't believe we just slept together without _sleeping _together." Sakura finished, wondering how just how pathetic she looked last night.

Syaoran laughed. "Sometimes, you're not all that attractive."

Sakura ignored him and continued to feed off his warmth.

"Do you do this a lot too?" She asked, holding her breath.

"Of course. I take care of my girls." He replied easily.

"Like that maid?" Sakura teased, ignoring the suddenly disappointing feeling at the pit of her stomach.

"Don't be jealous. I love you all the same." Syaoran returned, smiling when he felt her tense.

"I am not your slut Li." She grounded out.

"Hmm." Syaoran turned over and stretched lazily.

"You want breakfast?"

Sakura shrugged. "Not that hungry."

"Hm."

"A cup of coffee would be nice." She added as an afterthought.

"Ok." Syaoran replied and picked up the telephone.

Five minutes later Syaoran's personal maid brought up a tray of two coffees and two pieces of toast.

Sakura added milk and sugar into her coffee then took a sip. Rich and creamy. What had she expected? This was the Li Mansion.

"Eww, you like yours black?" She asked disbelievingly. "That's horrible."

Syaoran took a gulp. "Real men can take it. Anything else is too bland."

(OoOoOoOoOoOoO)

Tomoyo woke up feeling horrible. It was bright and sunny outside, although the air in her room felt indescribably chilly. She sat up, reaching for her phone, and checked that no one had sent any messages except one from Eriol telling her to keep warm for today. Apparently the temperatures dropped overnight.

Tomoyo frowned. She had to think about why she felt so horrible. Deep in her mind, she refused to admit she was selfish and possessive like Syaoran. He was her enemy, and he was hurting Sakura. She had every right to hate and despise him.

But the more she thought about it, the more she knew better. Syaoran wasn't the enemy. Syaoran was probably the key to Sakura's happiness. She had to let go. She had to support Sakura, or else Sakura would be too loyal to ever leave Tomoyo on her own. Her role as Sakura's sidekick would be resumed once again, except this time she still had Eriol's love and comfort.

She didn't need Sakura's undivided attention anymore. She had other people to love her, and maybe, even her mom would stop and notice how she missed her.

Oh the possibilities.


	7. Three Little Scenes

A/N: Sorry for not updating. Writer's block I suppose. Then I got a review to update, so here it is! Hope you enjoy. Bare with me, it's kind of confusing now. But things will clear up.

Come what May

Ch. 7 Three Little Scenes

Sakura got dressed in one of Syaoran's sister's outfits; a pink, faded sweater, and a pair of jeans, along with a pair of long cotton socks to keep her toes warm. Syaoran had the AC turned too low in the house and Sakura found it freezing.

"Want me to take you home?" Syaoran offered to her after she came out of the bathroom. They still haven't left the room at 9:45 am.

Sakura shook her head. "Don't want to face Touya right now. He'll probably yell at me for not telling him where I was."

"What are you gonna say?"

"That I stayed over at Tomoyo's."

"What if he already called Tomoyo?"

"Then I'd make up something else."

"What would happen if you told him where you really were?"

Sakura pulled a face. "He'd probably come and beat you to a bloody pulp."

"I can take him." Syaoran answered confidently with a twinge of distaste.

Sakura scoffed. "I don't care about you, I'd rather not have my brother think his sister was a slut."

Syaoran gave her an annoyed look. "Sakura, we didn't even do anything."

"We slept in a bed together under the same blanket. No one is gonna know the difference." She said sarcastically.

"Good point."

Syaoran beckoned for Sakura to come sit by him on the couch. Instead, Sakura chose the sofa adjacent to it and plopped down, facing the wall. Syaoran shrugged and spread himself out on his couch, facing the opposite wall.

"This is unfair." Sakura said after a while.

"What?"

Sakura sighed. "Last night, I told you a bunch of silly embarrassing things."

She couldn't see Syaoran's face but grimaced anyways.

Instead he didn't tease her at all. "I don't have any silly embarrassing things to tell you." He said simply.

Sakura snorted. "Come on Li, you have to have some history besides screwing a lot of models."

She could hear Syaoran laugh.

"Well what do you want to know? I have a total of four sisters, all older than me." He paused. "That's horrible you know that?"

"I can guess. They must have fawned over you a lot."

"My god, don't get me started." Sakura could hear him shift on his couch as he continued. "My parents are demanding people that pressure me into doing a lot of things I hate. Hence the whole me running away to a small town in Japan thing."

Sakura frowned. "But they bought you such a big house. I wouldn't call that running away."

"Built." He corrected for the hell of it. "We had it specially built. None of the other houses in Tomoeda are like it you know."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Of course. No one else has a _Mansion_, only a two story house like the other regular people."

He was quiet for a few moments, and Sakura guessed he was running his hand through his hair. He used to do that a lot.

"You know what it's like living in a house by yourself." He said quietly. "Imagine living in a mansion by yourself."

Sakura took in this sudden change of voice and attitude. It was strange, and somehow it made her feel comforted. He shared the same feelings of loneliness like her just hid it better behind his façade.

"Oh."

There was a small silence between the two.

"But of course, I have guests. Lots of nice guests."

The temporary sentimentalism was gone and the cocky bastard replaced it.

"Nice looking guests you mean. Probably with boobs the size of basketballs." Sakura returned, idly playing with her hair and smirking.

"What can I say? I'm rich and I'm fine."

Sakura clenched her fists. "How egotistical. I must have been drunk last night, you seemed almost… comforting."

"I was. Or else you wouldn't have stopped crying and shut up."

She felt her heart drop. "Oh. So it was just an act."

"Whatever you call it."

There was another pause in their speech and Sakura held her breath, wanting him to pick up the conversation again. Finally, she couldn't stand the awkwardness in the air.

"So how many years did you live in Hong Kong?"

"Till I was 8. And, before you ask, I came here because my dad wanted me to."

Sakura smiled. "But why?"

There was a thoughtful silence, and Sakura wished she could see the expressions on Syaoran's face.

"Well," he began, "considering how the lives of my sisters turned out, I supposed he wanted me to be different."

Sakura didn't want to press the topic anymore, but Syaoran continued.

"I guess he knew what a planned life was like, so he gave me a chance to run away." He laughed bitterly, "gotta thank my old man for that one. Might have been the only useful thing he ever gave me."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, and quickly opted for a topic change. "So you've lived alone since 4th grade?"

Syaoran didn't hesitate. "Well and Wei. He's my guardian, kind of. He attends the parents meetings and whatnot."

Syaoran frowned.

"Why are you asking me this now? You've known me since I came here."

Sakura took a moment to ponder what he had just said, and agreed wholeheartedly. Why was she asking him these basic questions that she already knew most of the answers to? A long time ago, the two had been friends, and she was sure that they had exchanged background information at the lunch tables before.

"It feels like… we've never known each other." She found herself replying.

Syaoran snorted.

"That's stupid. You're memory sucks."

Sakura rolled her eyes and pulled a lock of her hair in front of her face, twirling it with her fingers.

"Li, we haven't really been friends for a while. Plus, we were too young back then to go in depth."

"So? What makes you think we are now?" He sounded irritated.

"See, like that, I never remembered you being so…"

"Disagreeable?" He finished for her.

"You must have been a headache for your parents."

"So what? I bet they never really worried about me."

"Do you miss them?'' She suddenly blurted out for no reason at all.

She heard Syaoran shimmy onto his feet and then felt the weight of his body collapse on top of her. She gave a yelp of surprise then rolled over so that he was to her side. She jerked her head back at the close proximity and saw him smirk with satisfaction.

"They come and visit you know. They didn't just abandon their only son." He whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.

Sakura forced herself not to pull away so that she could demonstrate she was not uncomfortable with a little physical contact. They had slept in the same bed after all, this was nothing.

"So what big corporation do they own back in Hong Kong?" She changed the subject and blinked at Syaoran.

"I've never told you before?"

Sakura shook her head, her bangs colliding with his.

"Li Corp. associatied and partnered with blah blah blah. It's a big chain corporation that has a lot of branches and produces a lot of goods, services whatever. I don't want to bore you." He rolled his eyes and pulled away somewhat, allowing fresh air to fill Sakura's lungs.

"But you're filthy rich." She retorted.

"That and politically powerful."

"Do you have to go to those boring parties with the 'upper class' people and they wear Armani suits and stuff?" Sakura said, scrunching up her face.

"I try to avoid them, but yes unfortunately." Syaoran sighed. Then he turned back to Sakura and grinned. "We're actually holding the annual New Year Eve party. A lot of people like that will be here. But I get to invite whoever, since it's at my house."

"So you're inviting _normal_ people?" She queried raising her eyebrows and widening her eyes in a cute manner.

"All of Tomoeda High." He said breezily.

"Jeez."

Syaoran shrugged. "Yep. So if it gets too boring, we can all go upstairs and play PS2."

Sakura giggled.

"You're house is huge you know that."

"It's a mansion." Syaoran responded smugly.

He kissed her, satisfying himself with the sudden urge to gobble her up. Vaguely, he remembered having conversations with her before, and he missed them. No matter how reluctant he feels to admit that. He missed her too, even though she stayed next to him the entire time. It was a strange out of body experience that he had. Who was this person he was kissing? And more importantly, who was the person kissing her?

Sakura pulled away and blushed, and Syaoran stole another quick peck on the bridge of her nose and let his lips linger about the spot for a few seconds. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

"So besides spending money, what other things do you do?" Sakura said, trying desperately to get over her embarrassment.

Syaoran looked down at her and cocked an eyebrow. "I pretty much tried every sport. Took lessons on everything when I was a kid. Soccer and snowboarding are my favorite though."

"Snowboarding?"

"I used to go snowboarding with my family every year. It was kind of like our annual vacation. But then, of course, dad got too busy, sisters got married. Now I go whenever I can. Maybe I'll take you sometime."

Sakura grimaced. "No thanks. The idea scares me."

"Oh come on. I won't laugh at you too bad." Syaoran laughed and patted on her head.

"I have no money." She argued.

"I'll pay for you." He responded.

Sakura sighed sarcastically, rolling her eyes and feigning an annoyed look. "How about not. I don't want to die."

"Quit being dramatic. I'll protect you." He returned almost shyly.

Without thinking, Sakura blurted out words that just rolled off her tongue.

"I don't exactly trust you."

Syaoran pushed her away and got off the couch. He strolled towards the window, and plopped down on the windowsill, bringing one of his legs up, and resting his elbow on his knee. He looked away from Sakura with an expression that Sakura couldn't quite read. He sighed.

"You're right, why would you trust a guy like me." He said quietly. His breath caused a small spot on the glass to fog up.

Sakura stood, silently walking towards him. He knocked him upside the head.

"Now who's being dramatic? Come here."

She looped one arm around him shoulder and neck and let the other rest on his chest.

"Despite the whole liar, player, thing. You're alright Syaoran." She comforted, rubbing his back gently.

He clutched to her arm and squeezed lightly.

"I don't need you to comfort me."

Sakura shrugged and pulled away.

"I'm just returning the favor."

Syaoran snorted. "So we're even."

"I suppose." She mumbled.

(o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0)

Touya paced back and forth in his kitchen, occasionally eyeing his cell phone just to double check that she didn't leave a text message or something.

She left last night without a word and hasn't been in contact since. It was almost 6:00 PM.

"Touya, will you calm down?" Yukito appeared in the kitchen next to his best friend.

"Where's Yumi?" Touya suddenly spat venomously.

Yukito looked taken back at first, then recovered. "Don't blame this on her. She has nothing to do with it." He said softly.

"Oh really?" Touya squared his shoulders and faced the gentle looking man before him. "Because of her, you broke my sister's heart. You know how much Sakura likes you."

Yukito frowned. "Well what else was I supposed to do? I care about Sakura just as much as you do. She's my little sister too. I've called every house that I could think of, ran down by the shopping center and all the other places she might have went. What have you done besides sit around and be angry?"

Touya blinked disbelievingly, then narrowed his eyes. In one swift motion, he grabbed Yukito by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

"Touya!"

Both men cast their eyes in the direction of the doorway. There stood Sakura, safe and sound, staring at them with wide eyes and her mouth agape.

Touya released Yukito and started on Sakura.

"And where have you been young lady!" He placed both hands around her shoulders and shook her.

Sakura pulled away from him and backed herself up against the kitchen counter. She looked at her brother's worried eyes, and for a second, she almost apologized. _No… _She bit back her words and instead looked him straight in the eye with defiance.

She shrugged. "I guess I was used to my own schedule and forgot to check in. Usually no one's home to worry about me." She turned around and headed for the stairs. "I'll be in my room if you need me."

Touya fumed. "Come back here Sakura, I'm not-"

Yukito suddenly placed a hand on his friend's chest and pushed him back, stopping him.

"Let her go Touya. I'm the one at fault here."

Touya glanced at him warily then backed down.

"…"

(o0o0o00o0o0o0o00o0)

"Miss Kinomoto, will you please come up to the board." Professor Takahashi said in a demanding tone. He wasn't angry really, just rather impatient with the young bumbling schoolgirls that currently occupied his classroom. One in particular was that of Kinomoto Sakura, probably one that stood out the most because of her wide green eyes. She was considered beautiful at this school, yet rejected by the 'in crowd' for some unknown reason. And to add to the drama, Li Syaoran also was in this English class, often picking verbal fights with the determined drill captain.

Sakura rose up out of her seat and proceeded towards the black board, pausing when she went by Syaoran's desk and when he had stuck out a foot to trip her on purpose. She stepped over it casually, as if it was a daily routine. Takahashi rolled his eyes. Kids these days were so immature.

"We are going to do a kind of exercise that is like a word game. It's easy kids, I start off with one word and someone raise their hand and call out the first word that comes to their mind, but it has to relate." There were a few whispers around the classroom, of what, Takahashi did not know.

"In English please." He added suddenly, remembering last time he had left out this small obvious detail on their homework assignments. It was really amazing how many students took advantage of his small error and turned in a paper written in Japanese when this was an 'English' class.

"Kinomoto will write them down." He announced, handing Sakura a piece of white chalk. Sakura took it into her hands and stepped up onto the teaching podium, hand poised in midair, ready to write.

"Ok." Takahashi breathed. "Red." He started.

"White!" Someone shouted.

"Blue?" Another questionable voice rose out from the crowd.

Takahashi rolled his eyes again.

"Try something other than other colors." He prompted.

Tomoyo raised her hand.

"Ocean." She said calmly and Sakura scribbled that down.

"Fishes."

"Sharks."

"Death."

Takahashi cringed.

"Blood."

"Suicide."

"Ok.. lets try to stay away from topics such as these. Someone change it please. Anything relevant is good."

"Stupid." A male student said bitterly, ignoring the uncomfortable glances a girl cast him.

"Sakura!" Li Syaoran suddenly shouted and many students laughed.

Sakura paused when writing on the board, then wrote the words 'cherry blossom' in English slowly, ignoring the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She frowned, and tried to convince herself that Syaoran was just being himself.

"Flower." Tomoyo quickly amended, shooting Eriol a dirty look. He immediately stopped laughing and raised his hand as well.

"Lilies."

Chiharu smiled.

"Beautiful."

Yamazaki made a face at her.

"Ugly."

"Kinomoto again." Syaoran said with a satisfied smirk. Takahashi frowned and cleared his throat silencing the room. Sakura wrote the words 'Kinomoto' this time in English and several students noticed when she pressed too hard and a piece of chalk chipped off.

Naturally, this included Syaoran.

"Alright there?" He asked lightly, sliding out of his chair and then walking casually to the board from the back of the room. He slapped Kyo's outstretched hand in a victorious manner. Once next to the black board, he took another piece of chalk and pushed Sakura to the side. She stumbled a little and glared at him with angry eyes.

"I'll write now." He said, motioning with his hand to get back to her seat. Sakura put her hands on her hips and was about to retort with something about how Takahashi had asked her to do this. Instead Syaoran shooed her off the podium and spoke again.

"You're handwriting really sucks, you know that Kinomoto?"

Sakura cringed and went back to her seat, seething through her anger. What was this all about? Hadn't yesterday meant anything? Of course not. Li Syaoran was never going to change. She hated him, she was going to keep on hating him if he was going to keep doing this to her.

(00o0o000)

Drill practice was a disaster. The usual cheerful, bubbly Sakura disappeared and was overcome by a tidal wave of irritation. She yelled, and for the first time, criticized. Rita held back tears, and Sakura pretended not to see, shocked by her own words.

The rumors spread like wildfire. Suddenly everyone knew she worked for Li. Everyone also assumed that they were _sleeping_ together. She couldn't figure out how it had gotten around so fast. Tomoyo would have zipped her lips from the beginning. So who?

Sakura exited the girl's locker's room with her bangs brushed hastily to the side and her hair still in a mess. It didn't matter at the time when she pulled it up into its holder lazily because she was so tired and shocked at her outburst to Rita. She hadn't meant a word of it, and would have to apologize later. She shook her head silently, wondering why she was letting any of it get to her. Syaoran didn't matter. Neither did his stupid friends who were just as enthusiastic as he was about making her life miserable.

Even Tomoyo was started to ask her questions. Didn't she trust her? Sakura snorted. Of course not. She was having sex with Li Syaoran while at school the two still pretended they hated each other. Or maybe they still did, she wasn't quite sure anymore. Which part of that was normal? She knew she should have never let Li get to her, and agree to his stupid deals and play a part in his very open sex life which also included Meilin, the maid, many models, the salesclerk, and who else?

And now the whole school was talking about it. How much worse could her life get?

Well at least she had a job, even if it was at Syaoran's mansion, at least it paid her good. Speaking of which, she was currently making the walk towards her daily destination after school.

That was before a group of girls suddenly caught up with her.

"Kinomoto Sakura?" One of them sneered in an unpleasant voice. Sakura cringed, knowing that this was probably one of Syaoran's bad hook-ups.

"Are you who he's staying with now? I see his taste has _deteriorated._" She smirked and her friends circled Sakura.

"We should teach her a lesson shouldn't we Eiko? She should know not to mess with our property."

Sakura scoffed. "Property?" She asked as if it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. Syaoran certainly did not _belong_ to them. Them, she noticed dryly, was a plural word. This was a lot that she had never heard of.

"Yes, property. He belongs with people like us. Not poor, pathetic things like you." The girl named Eiko raised on hand and suddenly slapped Sakura sharp across the face, emphasizing her hate. Sakura recovered quickly and backed away from her alarmingly, only to be stopped by one of Eiko accomplices who shoved her back into the circle. Sakura fell to her knees, scraping her delicate skin painfully against the hard concrete.

A girl grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked mercilessly while Eiko's right hand bitch kicked her hard in the ribs. Sakura doubled over in pain and before she could get up, she felt Eiko strike her again across the face.

Two larger girls held her down by her shoulders roughly and dug their nails into Sakura's back. She cringed in pain but did not cry out. God forbid, she was not going to show any signs of weakness. But she was greatly outnumbered, and there was no way she could fight them off.

"I heard you were the drill captain." Eiko sneered again, picking up Sakura's right hand.

Sakura try to jerk her wrist from her grasp but Eiko squeezed her wrist painfully.

"You must need these fingers to twist the baton right? How about we smash them with those rocks over there?"

For a moment, Sakura widened her eyes in fear, but they narrowed in anger without her consent. How completely overtaken with jealousy were these girls? In her fury she kicked away her captor and punched Eiko satisfactorily in her jaw.

"You bitch!" She screamed and moved to strike her again before someone else grabbed her across the waist roughly. Sakura struggled fruitlessly and was backed firmly into a hard muscular chest.

"Stop it Sakura." Syaoran said sternly into her ear as he eyed the other girls with disgust. They backed off.

"You here, are just sluts. Get away from me." He said coldly before turning to Eiko.

"How much money hun? Give me number and I'll give you what you want. After that, please stop calling." He said nonchantly then tightened his grip on Sakura's waist protectively.

Eiko looked up with a hurt expression before turning her back towards him haughtily.

"I'll see you at the party Syaoran." She punched out each syllable sweetly with much effort, then left out of sight with her possy following behind her in their pumps and knee high socks.

Syaoran pulled Sakura towards the nearest bench and sat her down forcefully. She immediately turned away from him, refusing to meet his eye.

"Sakura, stop being childish. Did they hurt you?" He asked, his voice was evident with concern, and Sakura's heart turned over with confusion.

She shook her head warily and could feel Syaoran staring at the back of her head.

"You're not mad about school are you?"

Again Sakura shook her head.

"Ok then." He shrugged and got up from the bench. "You still have work you know. I'll drive you."

"No thanks." She grounded out, getting up and ignoring the sharp pain in her knee as she did so. Syaoran noticed.

"Stupid girl." He said and grabbed her hand, lacing her fingers with his. Sakura tried pulling her hand away, but Syaoran was persistent as he led her towards his car.

"It won't kill you to be seen with me Sakura." He said, the sarcasm evident in his voice with a twinge of hurt.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"It was you! Why did you start those rumors?" She said accusingly, turning and meeting his eyes for the first time that afternoon.

Syaoran just sighed.

"They weren't rumors. You are working for me, at my mansion. Which is true isn't it? That's all I let out."

Sakura locked her knees in place and stood her ground, yanking her hand away from his violently. Syaoran stopped short and turned to stare at her.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, as if her behavior was totally out of the ordinary.

Sakura tilted her head forward so that her bangs ran over her eyes, successfully concealing her seething face. Words could not describe her anger at the moment. She thought she could feel the blood bubbling in her chest, and clenched her jaw. Syaoran was psycho. What kind of person would be so nice and caring one morning, and then tease her so harshly the next, and then hold her hand and act like they were a couple? It was absolute ludicrous. To her horror, her eyes began to water and she turned furiously to wipe them away.

Syaoran did nothing. He just watched as she sniffled. After a while, it was done and she walked away from him in the opposite direction of his car. He stood rooted to the ground staring at something, anything besides her.

He beat her by twenty minutes back to the mansion. The moment she stepped in he could hear her voice, greeting Wei and the others. As soon as she was in his sight, his eyes bore down on her. Sakura could feel him watching her, and she knew what he wanted. She could hardly wait to slap it back in his face.

"Don't even think for one second Li, that today we're gonna… -mfph!-"

"I guess this is where we have the make-up sex?" Syaoran said teasingly as he spread Sakura out on the bed. His eyes wandered down her slim body and paused at the sight of her skirt which had been inched upwards to the point that her black thong was visible.

He groaned and lowered himself on top of her.

They began to kiss, the passion between them a mixture of unbelievable hate and indescribable attraction. Sakura moaned into his mouth, running her hands down his body and then up again to settle in his hair. Syaoran moved his head lower, settling his lips by her pulse point. He placed subtle kisses along her jaw, like tiny droplets of rainwater on Sakura's damp skin. She clenched her fists, digging her fingernails into her skin and shut her eyes with vengence.

Suddenly, she pulled away.

"Sakura?" Syaoran asked, annoyed.

She quickly pulled her blouse back on, and smoothed her skirt down with her hands.

"I have to go." She said quietly.

"Why?"

"I don't know what I'm doing here." She snapped back, turning her body around and facing Syaoran. She was angry.

He studied her, running his eyes over her body, and then trapping her eyes with honey.

"I think it's because you're lonely." He spoke without feeling, pulling away from her gaze. But to tell the truth, he had no idea what he was doing either. He knew the attraction was there. But he also knew Sakura would rather run into a wall then give him a second chance.

"Aren't we all?" He heard her say in a surprisingly small voice.

Syaoran blinked. "Oh please, don't sound so depressing."

"Why not?"

"The Sakura I know isn't like that at all."

She scoffed. "Well, how well do you think you know me?"

"Pretty well." He said with ease. "Even though we haven't been friends, I still kept tabs on you." He smiled at her, trying to shift the mood of their conversation.

Sakura frowned. "You've confused me."

"Don't think about it."

"Is that the best explanation you can come up with?"

"Explanation for what?" He was getting angry as well.

"This… thing!" She threw her arms up in the air with frustration.

"That we have between us?" He finished for her, amazingly still maintaining his cool exterior.

Sakura fumed. "Yes! I hate you! Why am I kissing you?"

Syaoran grinned cockily. "Because, I'm irresistible."

"Oh please."

The room was silent. The AC could be heard blasting out from the vents even though it was late September. There was a slight drone from outside the room, and everything was so silent it was ringing in Sakura's ears.

Finally, Syaoran spoke up again.

"Look Sakura, it feels good doesn't it?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Syaoran! I'm not that kind of-"

"That's not what I mean!" He finally lost his composure, and raised his voice so that it covered over hers completely.

Sakura stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

"I mean like… having someone that… feels like they care about you?" Syaoran suddenly blushed, and leaned forward so that his hair was hiding half of his face. "Gosh, that sounds so cheesy."

"What do you mean?" She demanded, her foot was rooted on the spot, and both stood staring at each other like stone statues.

"Never mind, it's easier to leave things the way they are." He sighed, giving up.

"You're right." Sakura suddenly blurted out unexpectantly.

"Huh?"

"Yeah… maybe that's why I keep coming back to you." She mumbled to herself, not looking at Syaoran at all.

"Yes, that's all that's there between us." He replied in a merciless tone. The fire died out from his amber gaze, and he looked upon her sadly.

Somehow, his words hurt so much. Sakura didn't understand why there was the painful thumping of her heart once more. She placed both of her hands on either side of face, and hung her head in a slow torturing process.

Syaoran watched her with bated breath.

"You should just go." He finally said through gritted teeth. He stomped out the door.

The soft chords of the piano rang throughout the open recital hall. Following it, were a string of subtle melodies that echoed within the sanctuary that Tomoyo trapped herself in. No one else was in the hall but her, and the only person playing on the piano did not know of her presence yet.

It was a beautiful piece of art, in more ways than one. The eight feet of perfectly polished wood sat in the spotlight, it's pearly white keys dancing in the night. Everywhere else was dark, save for the single person sitting on the bench. His fingers moved silently, striking the keys with a gentle grace. Half of his face was visible, covered slightly by his navy blue bangs. His glasses reflected a faint amount of light, making it seem like his eyes were shining.

Tomoyo watched, mesmerized.

She did not recognize the song, for all of his melodies blend into one inside her head. She could feel her pulse racing as she watched him, the music began to crescendo, and his fingers moved faster. She longed to close her eyes and float inside the euphony of lyrics, but she couldn't bear to tear her eyes away.

And as abruptly as the climax started, it faded away softly, replaced by a single chord in the relative major of the key. A true Debussy work.

"How long have you been standing there?"

Tomoyo snapped her head back, facing Eriol, who was still sitting on the bench, his eyes not looking at her at all.

"I.." She began timidly, embarrassed that he had known she was watching him.

He turned his body, his eyes locking with hers. His gently admonished smile lifted the doubt from her eyes, and she began to ascend towards the stage. He helped her climb onto podium, and lifted her light body so that she sat next to him on the bench.

She looked at him briefly, and blushed.

Eriol laughed at her childish expression and wound one arm around her back, to place on her head. He tenderly patted her hair, and she rested her forehead against his shoulder.

"That, was beautiful." She breathed, trying to slow down the rapid beatings of her heart.

"Impressionistic work, I knew you liked that kind of thing." He returned, watching her heated face from the corner of his eye.

"I don't quite understand it though. Save for the beautiful melodies, there had to have been something else."

"You can't think of music as a sound. It's a language. The language that Claude Debussy spoke was more like a mood creator."

"Mood creator, that's a great word. It felt like a mood to me."

Eriol eased her off his shoulder and lifted his hands to the keys once more. He ran them over a few keys, that repeated the starting line of the first melodies; a single line in the left hand, followed by the subtle pitches in the right.

He stopped after a few bars, and turned once again to Tomoyo.

"Now tell me, what does that remind you of?"

Tomoyo knit her eyebrows thoughtfully.

"I feel like, it's something soft and blurry, like, a beautiful landscape enveloped in fog, or perhaps a blurred light in the distance."

Eriol smiled gently at her.

…"The words, like soft and blurry, or fog, distance, it's all part of the impression Debussy was trying to create. Like the art work of Monet, it's part of that period of time, when people preferred to let their own interpretation blossom, instead of the precise implications adorned by the composer, or artist."

Tomoyo tilted her head. "I see, some things are more beautiful when a part of it is left in mystery."

Eriol nodded at her.

"Reverie. Remember that, you'll ask to hear it again sometime."

Tomoyo chuckled. "You know me so well."

Both were silent for a while, until it was Eriol who pulled her fully into the embrace. Tomoyo grinned into his shoulder, and in the back of her head, the melodies of Rachmaninoff's Italian Polka drifted into her head.

A mass of heavy clouds fell over Tomoeda, and after the third day, the first droplets of rain squeezed out again. It progressed, until lightning and thunder followed. The entire playground was finally flooded with mud and water. A few daring children stepped out and played in the puddles, singing in the rain.

Sakura smiled fondly at the scene, and made a quick grab for her umbrella.

It took a mere fifteen minutes for her to arrive at the field of irises. Those flowers were most lovely in the rain, Sakura heard her mother tell her. Discarding her umbrella quickly, she let the smile drift over her face, and the rain soak her from head to toe.

Little did she know, while she stood smiling up at the sky, Syaoran watched her with the same expression on his face the last time he saw her at the same place, dancing in the rain.

He was reminded of a song that his sister Shiefa used to play often on the piano. It was a lullaby, by Faure. Somehow, the painful melody seeped into his brain, while he watched her, looking so beautiful. He hated himself, for hurting her, for leaving her, and for robbing her of innocence. He made a decision then, to change all of that.


	8. Changes

Come What May

Ch. 8

Changes

Sakura had always had mixed feelings about autumn. Sometimes when she felt the chilly breeze ruffle her bangs, it was the most amazing and calm feeling in the world. She thought she could lose herself in the crisp cold morning air, and let her troubles drift away like floating scarves in the wind. The smell of the cold made her happy, and her cheeks always rouged into a pretty pink. But then there were times when the cold made her feel nostalgic for the old days when her father was still alive. There were too many memories that came back to her and sometimes not all of them were pleasant.

Once upon an autumn many years ago, she loved a boy named Syaoran. She didn't know it at the time, but it had to have been love, the way her heart sped up every time he said her name. Foolishly, she came to rely on him. Without her knowledge, he had become an inseparable part of her life. Every time she was scolded, she wanted to tell him her sadness. Every time she won a praise or a piece of candy, she wanted to share it with him. It was such basic trivial acts that molded her feelings for him. To her, Syaoran had always been a troubled boy. When she met him, he seemed shy and thoughtful, but a twinge of insecurity and confusion lingered in the air after him. She was too young then to place her hands on it, and didn't see that the hidden almost invisible emotions plaguing the young Syaoran would become their destruction of friendship for the next several years.

To make the long story short, he changed. He didn't know who he was anymore, and his serious personality of life seemed to burst from so much pressure that he cracked. He was lost. He wanted to change everything about his life. He pushed everyone away. He engaged in new activities, found new friends, found pleasure in the superficial brief moments of happiness. He lost the sense of the things that mattered to him. And when Syaoran figured this out, he was so disappointed with himself he didn't know what to do.

So he left everyone the way it was and hoped things would get better with time.

Unfortunately for Sakura, she didn't expect this. She didn't understand why he was being so mean to her all of the sudden. She didn't find the pranks he played on her funny. She didn't enjoy being taunted by his friends. She hated the fact he stopped smiling at her.

She recoiled to his hurtful advances and turned into her own shell, blocking him out and distorting his image. She wanted to keep the young Syaoran perfect in her mind, and the more she tried to do that, the more she hated the new Syaoran. He was everything she despised, everything that hurt her, everything she wanted to stay away from.

Yukito only fueled the fire. Everyone must have thought he was the barrier that came between the two. But the truth is, Yukito only served as a backup to Sakura's feelings for Syaoran. This was something she would never see or admit. The only person who may have figured this out was Tomoyo, but Tomoyo wasn't as pure as anyone suspected. For a selfish moment she wanted to keep Sakura forever as her own, she wanted to guard her friend from Syaoran.

So she never said a thing.

(0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o)

"Here boy!"

The large golden dog sprung towards Sakura and into her arms. He nuzzled his snout against her face affectionately, and she giggled.

"How's my boy today?" She grinned at him and stroked the top of his head.

Kero seemed to put on a sly grin and barked at her, trotting towards the direction of the kitchen.

Sakura quirked an eyebrow and followed him, dragging her feet against the tiles. Her house was rather cozy today, and a sort of laziness fell upon her as she walked into the house. When she entered the kitchen, she noticed a ray of sunlight spilling over the counter, illuminating the floor where a huge bouquet of roses stood. At first, she was alarmed. How had the delivery man entered the house? But when she picked up the card and read the signature, she scoffed and threw it down on the counter.

Arrogant bastard.

_Hey luv, thought I'd surprise you. Haven't seen you at work in a while. You chicken out? Come meet me._

_Syaoran_

Of course she was already slipping on her coat again, pulling her hair out of it's ponytail and ruffling it around a bit for a more mature look. Kero whined and she bent down to give him a kiss. She pulled out a tube of lipgloss from the counter draw and carefully applied to her lips. They would get messed up today.

On her walk over to the Li Mansion, she reevaluated her position. She shouldn't be scared of him. He was anything but scary. She just had to figure out why it was that whenever she was with him, she lost all sense of focus and dignity. Yes, today she would work on keeping up her dignity. Her school blouse still looked fairly fresh, so there was no need to change once she got to the mansion. She would go looking for him immediately.

When she saw Wei, he informed her that Syaoran was waiting for her at the bar. She crossed the salon and through the kitchen towards the back part of the house, and sure enough, he was sitting on a tall stool twirling a glass of liquid that she couldn't identify.

He didn't acknowledge her at first, just set the glass down in front of her.

"It's just juice."

She took a sip, and he hadn't lied to her.

"What do you want Syaoran?"

"Nothing, you have a job. I'm paying you."

She sighed.

"I don't…" Sakura looked away because she felt the tightness in her throat. _I don't want you to keep hurting me._

"I don't want this job."

There was a strange expression on his face and he closed the distance between them in two strides from his stool. He pressed his forehead to hers, and Sakura was so taken back she almost fell out of her chair. The look in his eyes were a mixture of confusion and frustration. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Uh.." She said on impulse to ease the awkwardness. Syaoran's eyes fluttered close and he pulled her off the stool and into his arms. Her head fell onto his shoulder and he held her gently. Sakura got a strong whiff of his smell and relaxed in his arms. God it felt so good.

Now was as good of time as any. Sakura knew she could only run from the truth for so long, and she decided she wanted to make an effort. Patching up their relationship would require her at least to be honest with him about her feelings. This was the only logical thought she could conjure up at that moment, so she pushed him away gently.

"Syaoran," she began, honest and sincere, "I'm mad at you."

(0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0)

It was late December, and Christmas was approaching fast. Most couples were celebrating and getting each other presents, while Sakura felt lonely and miserable. Touya and Yukito still hadn't come back yet. And Yumi and Yukito seemed to be doing fine.

Syaoran was another confusing matter. She barely saw him from the day they 'talked' by the bar. After her small confession he simply left the room. She didn't know what to make of it and thought her efforts had been put to waste. She hypothesized that Syaoran left town for the next week, and when he came back, he didn't bother going to class. She felt his presence slowly slip out of her life once more and turned back to look at Yukito. But her peace only lasted for so long, because he soon magically appeared in her life once more.

Sakura was walking home from the local noodle house after having a small study session with Tomoyo. Her cheeks were red from the cold wind and her hands were tightly stuffed in her pockets for warmth.

When she approached the house, she frowned at the sight him, standing casually on doorsteps. His hands stuck out beneath his brown wool sweater and were tucked into the pocket of his faded blue jeans. He had no scarf, no gloves, and no coat. Sakura had to admit, he looked like he was freezing his ass off standing there with his back leaning against the railings of the porch.

What the hell?

"Where have you been?" He asked immediately, as if she was the one to mysteriously disappear for two weeks.

Sakura ignored him, and moved to stick in the key into the keyhole.

He blocked her easily and his hands accidentally brushed against her fingers. Sakura gasped. They were so cold…

She looked up at his quivering figure and her eyes softened. A ghostly memory seeped back into her thoughts and she frowned. This changed everything.

He stared back into her eyes and took in a shaky breath as his body jerked with a shiver.

"Can we talk?"

She let him inside quietly, shutting the door without turning on the light. Syaoran didn't seem to mind, he grabbed her hand, and she led him to the couch. He sat down with a thump and sank into the slightly warmer cushions. Sakura took off her gloves and stuffed his hands into them. She leaned forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder. He breathed into her hair, then wrapped his arms tenderly around her small frame.

Everything was so much easier in the dark. And there were no words.

"So?" She began, pressing closer to him, wanting to bring her warmth to his cold body.

"Sakura." He said alarmed, noting her sudden sniffle. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head furiously. "You're so cold." She said, and her voice hitched.

Syaoran got up off the couch and flipped on the nearest light switch. He didn't need to look to know that she was already crying.

"Hey…" he comforted, spreading his legs out on the couch and then pulling her on top of him. "I'm okay."

She buried her face into his shirt, soaking a small patch of brown with her tears. "Why were you out there waiting Syaoran? Why do you always do that?"

Syaoran didn't answer her question but he knew she was worried about him.

"Shh." He smoothed out her hair and kicked off his shoes, hearing them clonking against the wooden floor. "It's not your fault."

"I'm not mad at you anymore." She said softly after her hiccups subsided. He smiled as he lazily drew circles on the small of her back.

"I missed you."

It was lunch break on a Monday, a week before Christmas. The exams were crashing down on Sakura, but she didn't mind. Her grades had somehow managed to keep up, even better than before. The rest of the afternoon was study hall, and she had a feeling Li planned on making her skip that.

"Are you taking me shopping?" Sakura asked Syaoran with a puzzled look on her face.

Syaoran turned around and offered her a charming smile.

"Of course. You need a dress for the New Year's Eve party." He continued to pull her towards the direction of the front entrance to the shopping center while she continued to protest.

"But I didn't bring any money." She paused. "I don't have any money to bring rather."

Syaoran gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "No matter. I'll pay for you." He compromised. "Under one condition." He added with a smirk.

Sakura turned her face and raised an eyebrow.

"You want to pick the dress don't you?" Many images of short and slinky black dresses filled her mind.

Syaoran laughed and pushed his messy banes out of his eyes, looking at her with those gorgeous honey brown eyes. "You know me too well Sakura, it almost scares me sometimes."

Sakura shrugged. "I'm very perceptive."

Syaoran looked at her with a look of disbelief. "Right.."

He continued to guide her across the large marble surfaced floors, until he reached a small boutique that basically had 'overpriced' written all over it. The windows were decorated with two large dresses, both of which had intricate designs with lace and expensive looking silk. Shiny rocks and pendants hung around them, reflecting the light given off by the large chandeliers in the lobby, giving the onlookers a sensation of glittering diamonds. Sakura sighed, suddenly knowing just how formal this stupid party was going to be.

"Scared already?" Came Syaoran's taunting voice from behind her. It was so deep and masculine it made the hairs stand on Sakura's neck. She turned around and faced him defiantly.

"Of a few dresses? Please." She waved her had dismissively and entered the shop.

Already a few nice looking dresses caught her eyes. She paid them no attention since she would not get to pick anyways. She had an idea what kind of apparel Syaoran was going for. It would definitely be on the border of lingerie.

"May I help you?" Came a soft spoken voice of the sales clerk. She was young, probably just a few years older than Sakura.

Sakura eyed her enviously, taking in her beautifully done nails and perfect hair. Syaoran recognized her too apparently.

"Keiko, it's been so long." He reached over and kissed her on the cheek. "How have you been?" He flashed her the classic boyish grin and Reiko flushed.

"Fine Syaoran. I've been busy with school really, and this new job." She smiled sweetly at him.

Syaoran nodded. "Got any suggestions? This is my date for the New Year party." He tilted his head in Sakura's direction and watched the sales clerk look her over.

"She's very pretty." Keiko commented and Sakura blushed. She bowed slightly, greeting the very pretty lady.

"I have a few suggestions." Keiko continued and turned her body in the direction down the aisle, expecting Sakura to follow. Instead Syaoran stepped in front of her.

"Go sit and read a magazine or something. I'll bring them for you to try out." He draped an arm around Keiko. Sakura rolled her eyes and sat, taking in the knowing look that Keiko was shooting her.

All of the magazines were either filled with boring fashion tips, cheesy sent-in love stories, or outrageous sex tips. None of which Sakura was rather interested in at the moment. She began to look around her at the surrounding shops through the glass window. So many people were there, shopping for holidays. Many were coupled up and walking side by side merrily. She suddenly remembered how last year she had made a wish that this year Yukito would be here with her. Instead, it was Syaoran.

Up until now, she hadn't really thought about how she felt about him. At first, it was just her plan to use him as a tool to show Yukito just how wild and fun she could be, how grown and mature she was. But all that seemed to be going down the drain since she found herself more and more confused between the two. It had struck her long ago that by having sex and drinking wasn't helping her turn into a woman. It was just the type of thing typical teenagers did. Yet she still kept seeing Syaoran. Why? She honestly had no idea. Something about Li pulled her to him, and filled her life with entertainment. Somehow, his presence was intimidating, and every time he wanted something of her, she ended up obeying.

It was like she couldn't get enough of him.

But of course, she loved Yukito. There was no question about it. Until he changed his mind and looked her way, she would continue being with Syaoran as his.. friend with extreme benefits.

That's the way she kept trying to keep things. But it wasn't working so well as she had hoped.

Absentmindedly, she got up from one of the squishy couches and stepped outside the boutique. She couldn't wander far, since Syaoran might come looking for her, so she decided to just browse the neighboring stores. She reached inside her pocket for her wallet and when she looked inside, it reminded her pitifully of just how poor she really was.

500 yen.

Oh well. It wasn't like she'd planned to buy anything really.

All of the Christmas decorations were really getting to her. Everyone seemed so… happy. The paper snowflakes, the gigantic Christmas tree, the tinsels hanging from the railings, it was all so shiny and joyful. She couldn't help but smile as she watched two eager children stare at the fake Santa clause with wonder.

This wasn't Europe or America, but a little Christmas fun couldn't hurt Tomoeda any.

She spun around 180 degrees and began looking at the shops down the other side of the long open hallway. Something suddenly caught her eye. As if in a trance, she walked down next to the display case and her eyes widened

It was flower brooch made of shining crystal. The edges and center were a soft pink color and stem and pedals were clear. It sat in the display case, nestled and almost hidden between a crystal sculpture of a dolphin and a fake glass slipper. It wasn't as shiny or as attractive as the latter, but plain and simple. A flower, one that resembled what her mom once possessed. Sakura could have sworn she saw the exact same one once before somewhere.

Her eyes shifted to the price tag.

She gulped.

Nonetheless, it brought back a few vague memories and she stared longingly at the glass flower. It was beautiful and so lovely…

Idly, she held out her hand and traced the figure's outlines with the tips of her fingers. A glass barrier stood in her way but she didn't mind. Her eyes were fixed on the beautiful object, yet she knew she could never afford to spend her money on such a useless thing.

"There you are."

Sakura spun around to face Syaoran standing behind her; arms crossed looking a little annoyed.

"I thought you just bailed, come on, I picked out a few things." He smirked suggestively and Sakura gave him a pointed look.

Syaoran began walking back towards the boutique. Sakura gave the crystal brooch one last look and followed him.

Turns out, there weren't that many options to choose from except a revealing dark blue dress with a plunging neckline, and a revealing black dress that had slit inching up towards her thigh. She tried on both and came out shyly while she felt his eyes look her over.

"Very nice. Very very nice." He grinned and grabbed her around the waist with one hand, her arm with the other. He twirled her in his arms and inspected her carefully.

"Sex on a stick." He remarked casually while Sakura playfully slapped his arm.

"Honestly Syaoran, please don't tell me you're going to make me wear this." She said softly, embarrassed at the looks people kept shooting her.

Syaoran smiled at her and cocked an eyebrow teasingly.

"Of course not, that was just for my pleasure alone." He waved his hand to Keiko who promptly brought him another dress.

It was dark red, and off the shoulder with an intricate design pattern of lace and ribbons circling her middle like a corset. The bottom flared out just slightly and gathered in bunches at the floor. Sakura eyed it awe but stared at the price tag.

_Why should I care? It's him that's paying for it._

"That's.." She trailed off as Keiko placed it in front of her, measuring the length of her legs and matching it with the dresses with her eyes.

"Seems a little long. We'll need to have it hemmed a bit." She said thoughtfully as she pulled both sides of the dress across Sakura's chest.

"The width is fine though." She added and handed the gown to Sakura.

Sakura eyed Syaoran with an appreciative glance and bounced off the fitting rooms once again. She shimmed out of her current attire and stepped into the red dress, pulling it around her torso and tightened the zipper. Perfect match.

She knew that Tomoyo could probably create something prettier. But something made her like this dress more.

_Is it because he picked it out? _

She quickly dismissed the thought from her head and jumped back when she heard the something behind her rattle. Syaoran stepped in the booth behind her and pulled the curtains shut with a crisp cling of the metal rings.

"Gorgeous." He commented and wrapped his arms around her stomach, resting his head on her shoulder as he stared into their reflections together.

"I must admit, we look quite the couple." Sakura added and leaned back into his chest admiring how deep and profound his amber eyes were when they stared at her own emerald ones in the mirror.

Syaoran kissed her neck gently and then pulled away. He sat down on the stool sitting beside her pile of dresses and pulled an object out from his pocket.

"I have something for you." He announced and passed something red and silky into Sakura's hands.

"It's just a ribbon." She retorted, quite astonished since she had been expecting a diamond necklace of some sort.

"I wasn't expecting you to be amazed." Syaoran tied it on to her neck gently.

Sakura had to admit, when she looked in the mirror, that it added the finishing touch.

"Alright then, thank you." She said as she touched the soft material beneath her fingertips. "It's all very lovely." She added gratefully.

Syaoran turned her around to face him.

He leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth, exploring her and tasting every corner.

Sakura kissed him back simply because it felt so good, and once again, she couldn't resist and gave in to his demands. Everything was going along fine just like she had expected it to when suddenly she froze. His hand had somehow wandered up her thigh and he was thumbing the edge of her thong.

Syaoran felt her stiffen and pressed himself closer to her so that she was backed against the mirror.

"Shh. Don't be nervous." He whispered soothingly and worked his fingers through the thin material and touched her lightly.

Sakura shivered and sagged against him. She whimpered, and for no apparent reason at all, wanted to cry.

"Don't look at me like that." Syaoran commanded softly as he continued to push himself in and out of her. "Don't cry. It's natural to want this."

Sakura shook her head once and rested her forehead against his. She gave up trying to fight and let him take over. The feeling was building up again and she bit her lip from crying out.

_Yukito. Think of him._

But she couldn't. She wasn't thinking of him.

She buried her face in Syaoran's chest and began crying. Syaoran stopped and pulled away from her.

"It's not what you expect is it?" He asked her quietly.

Sakura didn't answer.

Syaoran sighed.

"I already paid for the dress. You can go home if you want, I doubt Principal Sano will care if you skip the rest of the day."

And with that he was gone. Sakura could hear him kiss Keiko goodbye and she called out cheerfully for him to come again soon. Sakura cringed and sat in the stall alone and abandoned.

(o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o)

When she opened the front doors to the Li Mansion, something immediately caught her eye. Everything was different. They carpets had been redone and snowflakes draped from the ceiling. It was uncharacteristically out of place.

"What is this?" She asked to the maid who was putting up another set of ornaments.

The maid looked at her as if she was stupid. "We're decorating for the party of course. Master Syaoran's orders." She glanced up and down Sakura haughtily.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Do you know where he is?"

The maid shrugged. "Check the attic. I'm pretty sure he's there, since he had me clean it out for him yesterday."

"Ok." Sakura replied breezily, not mentioning she didn't know how to get to this 'attic'. To be honest, she never knew that there was an attic in the first place. Presently she just hoped to find Syaoran somewhere else. She wasn't about to let some stupid maid show her up, especially when she didn't even give a damn.

She walked up along the grand staircase and stopped when she reached the second floor. This floor hadn't been decorated and was kept to its usual embellishments. She probed around some of the guest bedrooms in hopes that Syaoran was in one of them.

He was not.

She found the staircase that led up to the third floor and sped up them, reaching the top with a heavy sigh. He wouldn't be in his bedroom right now because he usually had it cleaned at this hour. None of his sisters were home so that ruled out their chambers.

Sakura suddenly thought this was quite odd. This scene seemed to repeat itself quite often; her looking around the very large mansion for her 'master'.

She wandered around the very large halls and touched her ear to every one of the large mohagany doors. Then something caught her eye.

A small _gray _door, on the master's bedroom level. That was odd..

Experimentally she turned the knob and to her surprise the door opened a small crack and sunlight filled the room. She squinted her eyes and looked up, seeing a large window in the small space of the almost closet like room, along with a small staircase leading up somewhere.

"Hmm." She wondered to herself aloud and took a step in, preparing to journey up wherever those stairs led.

"You really shouldn't go wandering around people's houses." A cold voice sounded from behind her.

Sakura turned and stared at Syaoran guiltily, doing a perfect impression of child with their hands caught in a cookie jar.

"I'm sorry Li, I didn't mean to…" She trailed off as she studied the look on his face. It was a mixture between amusement and amazement.

"You apologizing to me? Wow.." Syaoran finished disbelievingly and flashed her another one of his charming grins.

There was a small silence between the two and finally he extended his hand to her.

"I was just kidding. You want to go up and see?"

Sakura fumed for just a second about him deceiving her again, but took his hand nonetheless. They climbed up access cautiously since it the width of the step was so narrow. Syaoran pulled Sakura up the last step through what seemed like a trap door in the hole of the threshold that they entered.

"Woah." Sakura exclaimed as she looked around her, taking in her surroundings.

It wasn't a very large room, considering it was the only one on the now founded fourth floor. She had secretly suspected there was such a thing when she spotted the large window out of place and slightly higher than the others from the back of the mansion but never knew that it actually existed.

The walls were painted dark green, emphasizing the low ceiling and the single bulb light hanging from the ceiling. A pool table was placed on the opposite side of a queen size bed and there was a small wooden cabinet on the far side of the wall.

The most amazing thing was that there was a balcony, completely surrounded by part of the slanted roofs. Sakura stepped out onto it and looked out below her. There was only a small space in which she could see out and her breathing hitched.

The entire Tomoeda was before her eyes, and it was beautiful.

"How.." She sighed and felt Syaoran circle his arms around her waist.

"It's my secret place." He whispered into her ear and squeezed her gently.

"Do you bring all your other girls up here?" She said bitterly and then bit her lip, regretting it.

Syaoran chuckle and pulled her away from the balcony.

"Nope. Actually, you're the first person that's been up here." He shrugged and dropped his head to rest on her shoulder.

Sakura leaned back into the crook of his neck.

"What is this though?" She questioned.

Syaoran let her go and sat on the large windowsill, motioning for her to come sit with him with his hand. She joined him and they sat back to back, looking out at the scenery of Tomoeda.

"It was originally the attic, built for storage." He started, taking one of her hand in his and rubbing the back of it gently. "And one day I just got tired of all of the stuff we kept up here, so I threw it all away, and kind of personalized the room as my own."

He gestured to the dark green paint.

"Hence the pool table and those wine cabinets over there." He added with a smirk.

"But aren't all of the rooms yours?"

"Not really." He paused. "I'm the only one that lives here, but all my sisters have personal rooms, and there's a bedroom for my parents and stuff, if they come and visit."

Sakura nodded. "But why take me up here?"

Syaoran stopped stroking the back of her hand and grasped her fingers gently, pulling her from the windowsill to the bed.

"Well, I had something else planned this afternoon."

And then he kissed her.

(0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o)

It was so much different than before. But that might have been a little biased since Sakura wasn't quite conscious to feel it in the first place. His kisses were gentle, and his touch was so soft. He traced his fingers along her entire body, stopping to rest on top of her stomach. His lips worked slow and carefully over her plump lips, red like ripe strawberries. The tips of his fingers felt feathery light, like light sprinkles dancing over her pores. They inched themselves down to her hip, and another culprit came up her leg to stop on her thigh. He traced small circles, along her stomach and thigh, teasing her slowly and deliberately. Sakura squirmed under his touch, her instinct telling her to fight, but her body giving in completely. She wanted him to touch her.

Syaoran moved his defty fingers with skill, knowing how girls wanted to be handled. His hands never went completely between her legs, even though he could sense how aroused she was. He wanted to get rid of Sakura's fear, and have her respond to him, rather than him forcing her. At last, she caved, and moaned with anticipation as her hands traced up his back into his chestnut hair. He moved his hand, and his fingers touched her ever so lightly between the legs, but the feeling was enough for Sakura to cry out.

She bit her lip as she felt him move inside her underwear, and settling his digits in her wetness that she had produced. It was like the fitting room again, and she shut her eyes tightly. He seemed to sense how nervous she was, and gave her comforting kisses along her jaw, shushing her to keep quiet. She obeyed, and parted her legs as he moved slightly faster, rubbing the same spot over and over again, harder and harder, the friction built up and Sakura could not contain her vocal chords, her breathing quickly advanced into a pant, and she called out to him in raspy breath to finish her, and let her release. He didn't stop, but slowed down on purpose so that with every single motion that he made with his rough fingers against her skin, she wanted to burst. She hung on to the feeling, until finally it overflowed her pool of emotions and she came. She cried out and arched her back, releasing against his hand.

He didn't give her time to recover, but pressed up tightly against her so that she could feel the bulge press in her thigh. He unzipped his pants hastely, and before she could protest, thrust himself into her. She held her breath, determined not to lose the battle, but he had gained dominance and was rocking faster and faster. His thrusts were seemingly gentle at first, until it became too much for Sakura to take, and she begged him to quicken, so that she could experience that delicious feeling again. He complied to her request eagerly, ramming himself into her core, edging Sakura closer towards the edge and she was forced to cry out shamelessly. Her gasps of delight turned into moaning for more, and finally into screams of anticipation. It was so wonderful, so sudden, and so powerful that she couldn't handle it anymore and burst once again.

When at last she had calmed, Syaoran traced his fingers across her body one last time, feeling the tremble down her spine.

Sakura nestled along the crook of Syaoran's neck, breathing in deeply. She felt him wrap his arms around her form and gently stoke the small of her back.

"That was.." He began.

"Wonderful." She finished, grinning into his chest.

He smiled back. "I'm not taking advantage of you." He stated, reassuring himself.

"Right. Because I wanted it." Sakura continued, inwardly telling herself that it didn't mean anything. The passion she felt for Syaoran was just pure lust.

Syaoran smirked. "You're not quite the goody good now are you?"

_Of course not, I just had sex with you.._

Sakura shrugged. "Guess not."

Syaoran sensed her uncertainty.

"All fun and games." He comforted.

Sakura allowed herself to finally drift to sleep.

She probably wasn't out for very long because it seemed like the next second, Syaoran was tapping lightly on her forehead, whispering to her.

"Sakura wake up."

She opened one eye lazily and looked up into his amber eyes.

"What time is it?" She said warily and pushed herself up against him, leaning her back into his chest.

"Don't know. But the sun's setting. Come quick." He ushered her and pulled her into his arms, setting her down on the wide windowsill so that both of them could lay against the wall and look out the large window pane.

"Wow.. Syaoran, this is.."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she looked at the orange and red afterglow on the soft white clouds. The entire sky was illuminated with a fire that it looked like all of Tomoeda was burning. There were also shades of black and gray in the far distance, mixing with the bright bloody color, as if it were the smoke coming from the fire. The clouds were looming overhead, watching down over the town. They looked as dramatic as the paintings of war hung in the famous art museums, except this scene was absolute real.

"Shh. I know." He quieted her and pressed his bangs into the crook of her neck, resting his head on her shoulder. The two of them sat in comfortable silence and Sakura felt the residing sun fill up her entire body with warmth. Syaoran wasn't all that bad really, and she sometimes felt a dangerous passion for him. It was almost like she secretly … loved him. But how could that be? It was almost scary, that he knew, and possessed this part of her that she hardly known was there all of her life.

"I have something for you." He whispered into her ear.

Sakura frowned. "Why, what's the occasion?"

"It's Christmas stupid."

"But we don't celebrate.."

"Just shut up. Here." He pressed something square into the palm of her hands. It was a petite white box, wrapped with a blue ribbon and tied into a bow on top. Sakura pulled it open easily.

The crystal flower brooch was inside, it's crystals immediately taking in the red sunlight and reflecting all sorts of colors so beautiful it was beyond description. Sakura stared with awe at the tiny glass flower, forgetting to thank Syaoran.

"I'm guessing you like it?" He smiled fondly at her, taking the box from her hands and placing it to the side.

"How did you know that I..?" She began, still wide eyed.

"I saw you staring at it today at the mall. I don't see what's so special about it though." He replied nonchantly, stroking her cheek.

"Nadeshiko.." She whispered.

"It's just a flower." He replied.

"My mother had something like this once."

"What happened to it?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura suddenly laughed and smiled up at him. "Don't know. Touya probably broke it."

"Reminds me of when I was a little boy." Syaoran grinned as well, pressing his forehead to hers.

"You're not that old yet." Sakura said quietly.

"Hmm." Syaoran replied, ending their conversation.

After a while, the sun went down and the attic was dark. Syaoran flipped on the switch to one of the single bulb lights hanging from the ceiling and beckoned Sakura towards the couch.

"Syaoran where are your parents? Shouldn't they be home for the holidays?"

"They'll be home for the party. Then they leave for Hong Kong again." He said tonelessly, stretching lazily on his back.

"Why do you live here all by yourself?" Sakura asked again.

"Because I can't stand living with them."

"Oh." Sakura frowned, looking at Syaoran's neutral expression out of the corner of her eye.

"What about your sisters?" She said, expecting Syaoran to be annoyed with her pestering questions.

He didn't change the look on his face.

"Either married, or studying abroad. All of them are coming back for the party though."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "Must be some party."

Syaoran chuckled. "Oh yes. You'll meet the entire Li family tree.

"Woah. Meet? I don't think so." Sakura pulled a face.

He stared right back at her. "Of course. Why wouldn't I introduce you?"

Sakura paused. "Because, we're just.."

"Friends. Yes. What's your point?" He replied shortly.

"Are you going to introduce Eriol and Tomoyo?" She argued back, changing the topic.

Syaoran shrugged. "Hmm, not really. Eriol is a guy."

"Tomoyo?"

"Not as pretty as you are."

Sakura smiled. "I'm speechless."

"I'm a charming guy." He returned, flashing her the classic Li grin.

Sakura sighed and laid back into the soft cushions. Syaoran moved his head into her lap and Sakura cradled it with her arms, gently stroking his honey brown hair with one hand. She didn't get to spend times like these with Syaoran very often. She hated the Syaoran that showed up in front of his friends or fellow students. But the Syaoran that was currently in her arms, and the Syaoran that opened up to her occasionally, was one that she was becoming rather fond of.

"This is nice. But I think I should go." She finally said, knowing that one, she had work, and two, she needed to go home sometimes and return Touya's phone calls.

As always, Syaoran opposed.

"Don't. Stay the night. No one's home anyways." He said, looking up at her with some of his hair in his eyes.

Sakura brushed it out of his forehead and kissed him there lightly.

"Yeah but Touya might call." She said regrettably, wishing he would stop giving her that pleading look.

"So? Tell him you slept over at Tomoyo's." Syaoran argued, feigning a childish pout.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's been my excuse too much lately."

Syaoran smiled. "You should just move here period, save you the trouble of coming back and forth."

"I only come here because you pay me."

"Don't lie Sakura, you don't need money that badly."

"I don't want to blow my father's savings just yet. I plan to go to college you know." She frowned at him, as the thought of her father suddenly disturbed her very much.

Syaoran snorted. "With your grades? What do you plan on applying for?"

"Hey! I get good grades." She quickly defended, slapping him playfully in the chest.

"Relax." He smiled, "I'm just teasing."

He pushed himself away from Sakura and strode towards the wooden cabinets on the far wall. He fumbled with the rusty looking lock, but managed to get it open in the end.

"I'm thirsty. Want some wine?"

"Sure." Sakura shrugged, looking around the room and letting her eyes land on a stack of thick brown books discarded on the floor.

"Syaoran, what's that?" She questioned and watched him stop pouring the red liquid.

"Photo albums." He replied breezily and handed her a glass.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" Sakura queried while she already got up and started towards the foot of the bed.

"Alright. Only because you asked so politely." Syaoran sighed and moved to sit next to her on floor, leaning his back against the leg of the bed and watching her begin to flip open the first book.

"That's the strangest thing you've said all day." Sakura said absently as her eyes raked over a few pictures of scenery and some large houses, much like the one Syaoran currently lived in.

"I am unpredictable." He answered, watching her expression.

"Woah! You were short!" She suddenly exclaimed, a mocking smile appearing on her face.

"Hey, I was a late bloomer ok?"

Sakura nodded. "What's this?" She pointed to another picture, one of Syaoran when he was around six or seven. "You look so shy."

He shrugged. "I might have been."

"Man, no one would be able to guess that now."

"I still have my sensitive sides that I keep to myself."

Sakura stopped flipping the pages, her eyes landing on a certain one, containing a gorgeous girl with two long pigtails.

"Who is she?"

"Jealous?" Syaoran queried in a coy tone and lifted an eyebrow.

"What? I'm just asking.." Sakura replied, perhaps a little too hastily.

Syaoran didn't hesitate in replying. "My fiancé."

"Are you serious?" Sakura's eyes got round as coins.

"Jealous?"

"Do you want me to be?"

"It would flatter me."

Sakura rolled her eyes, flipping the page once again.

"I'm sure. And no I'm not jealous. Just.. surprised."

"Yeah, we were engaged when I was like five."

"What?"

"Some Chinese thing. Our family ties. Complicated." Syaoran waved his hand in the midair, and made a grab for Sakura. She fell into his chest, the back of her head resting against the juncture between his shoulders and neck. Her fingers thumbed the material of the photo album thoughtfully while she stared at a few more pictures of his sisters.

"Are you planning to go through with it?" She found herself asking, although it didn't register in her mind as jealousy.

Syaoran sighed deep into Sakura's hair. "When we're old enough, I plan to cancel the engagement. But right now, I'm just sticking to whatever my mom's throwing me in."

"Oh."

Sakura didn't know how to reply to that. She did not want to sound relieved in any way shape or form.

"She's very pretty."

"Of course. She is _my_ fiancé."

"Hope she doesn't have an attitude problem like you."

"heh. You'd be surprised."

"Is she going to be at the party?"

Syaoran paused. "Actually no. She's in London this year. But she's coming back in the spring."

His voice drifted off into the silent night, it was now pitch dark outside, and the only light that illuminated the room came from that single bulb at the corner of the room. It was getting a little hard to see, and Sakura had to tilt the album in the direction of the light.

"Cute! Baby pictures." She exclaimed, a fond smile tracing her features.

"Yep, I was adorable wasn't I?"

"I bet you were tedious as child."

"No actually," Syaoran said thoughtfully, "I was pretty quiet and reserved."

Sakura scoffed. "I find that surprising."

"My sisters kept me in check. Good thing they're gone. Too much noise around the house with them in."

"Do you have any nieces or nephews?"

"Three."

"Are you a good uncle?"

"Of course. They love their Uncle Syaoran."

Sakura leaned back into Syaoran, closing the photo album and sighed deeply, as if exhausted.

"I find it odd that you're good with kids."

"I'm good with a lot of things."

"Will you stop with the narcissist remarks?" She slapped him playfully on the arm, and he in return began tickling her. The two tumbled to the ground, Sakura gasping for breath, as she begged for him to stop. After the laughter resided, she suddenly felt extremely awkward, sharing such a lovey dovey moment with Li Syaoran. It was uncalled for.

Syaoran, wondering why she had gone silent all of the sudden, frowned at her slightly.

"I'm gonna go get some dinner. Want to come?"

Sakura shook her head. "Do you mind if you bring it up here?"

"You're supposed to be my servant, Kinomoto." He reminded her, while smiling at her with a twinkle in his eye.

Sakura raised her head haughtily. "Yeah well too bad, I'm taking a break today."

"I'll be back."

Sakura watched his retreating back climb over the pool table and towards the door. She rolled her eyes, wandering why he didn't just walk around it. But after she heard the soft metallic click of the door, she couldn't help but turn the page of the album back to Syaoran's fiancé.

Sakura studied her; high cheek bones, large dark eyes, long silky hair, all the component that Sakura felt she did not have. She had messy auburn hair, light green eyes, and a petite nose and mouth. Her features weren't accentuated like Syaoran's chosen fiancé. Sakura felt… so plain, compared to the girl in the pictures. And it had probably been a few years since that particular one had been taken, meaning she was even more beautiful and radiant.

Sakura did not possess the elegance or the glamorous appeal.

(0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o) The cooks were dismissed for the holidays, and Sakura and Syaoran feasted on two cups of ramen noodles. It was strangely delicious to Sakura, soothing her growling stomach. She never really cared for the fancy dinners anyways, as long as it felt like supper, and homely, she was content. The two conversed about their past Christmas times. Sakura didn't have much stories to offer, so Syaoran entertained her about a particular Christmas when he was 12. "It was one of those stunts that years later people would still talk about." He began, boasting proudly with a smirk on his face. Sakura giggled. "Oh boy." She stated. "Anyways, parents should know better than to hold a business gathering party on Christmas Eve and invite millions of people, and then suddenly leave a little boy trapped with all those boring millionaires. Something bad always happens in that situation." Sakura nodded in agreement. "This was back in Hong Kong, and our main hall was lavished with all of these pieces of artwork, and you know, was worth millions. So, my uncle had a brilliant plan to install a sprinkling system, just in case a fire was ever present, we could extinguish it. My dad thought the idea was a little out there, but agreed anyways, just because no one else had a system like that, and that it would be cool." Sakura noted the sarcasm in Syaoran's voice whenever he spoke of his father and uncle. It wasn't very loving, or admiring. "So, me being so incredibly bored and hateful, I crept up to the control room, and shut off the power system. All the lights went out and I could hear the profligates screaming in the hall." Sakura giggled, knowing where this was heading. "Of course, I switched on the sprinkling system, and since it was powered on a different circuit, it worked just fine. I blasted it up on full power, and let me tell you, it was the best scene ever recorded on camera." Sakura stopped laughing and frowned slightly. "Camera? You had cameras in your house while growing up?" Syaoran set aside his chopsticks. "I know it's kind of unbelievable, but me and my sisters were all monitored when we grew up. Since our parents were gone all of the time, and that people of all different types were in and out of our house, important places were recorded…" He drifted off. "But the bathrooms weren't though, of course." Sakura gave him a weird look. "Are you regretting not ever seeing your sisters naked in the shower?" Syaoran cringed. "Don't give me that picture." "But wait, I don't understand." Sakura cut in once again, pursuing the topic of the ridiculous idea of cameras inside a household. Syaoran sighed impatiently. "It was strange, I know. But you understand why don't you?" Sakura stared blankly back. "Well, with my dad's position in the business world, and my uncle's position in politics, the Li family was quite a topic back in Hong Kong. And since every Li has their own story, we made the news more often than you can imagine. People knew our faces, and sometimes me and my sisters were in _danger_. So, my mom installed that system so that our safety could be insured, and so she could watch the things we did when we were alone, so that you know, none of us turn out to be corrupt or anything." 

Sakura didn't blink. She was completely shocked at the measures a woman took to protect her children, or was imprisoning them more like it?

"She is a good woman Sakura, don't look at me like that. But because I found out at an early age, that she was watching us like this, I eventually couldn't take her authority and shit, so I told her to let me out of that house, and that I would run away if she didn't. She was scared, because she knew that if I wanted to escape, I was smart enough to find a way, so she sent me across sea into Japan.

I was stupid Sakura, I thought I could find happiness away from the people that were making me feel so alone, but then I realized everyone is just the same. They don't really care about you, just your money. I feel like that Sakura, all of the time."

He laughed bitterly. "My _friends_, and _girlfriends_, are just moochers off of my money. And I let them sometimes, because it's fun, not caring and just having fun. Right?"

Sakura suddenly leapt out of her chair and threw her arms around Syaoran's torso. She held on tightly, squeezing the breath out of him. He didn't complain, but wrapped his own arms around her frame silently. It was so strange that he suddenly let himself loose, and he felt rather embarrassed. The girl, Sakura, she seemed to understand, and as fresh tears hit his shirt, he closed his eyes briefly, letting a strange feeling sink in at the pit of his stomach.

"Sakura…" He began, but she cut him off.

Her face was inches from his, and moving closer. The second their lips touched, Syaoran felt strange and unfamiliar. It should have been the same feeling that he experienced when he kissed any other girl, but instead, it was so much more. Her lips were gently working against his, and he savored every taste. He parted his mouth for her, and she tenderly sucked on his bottom lip while he licked hers carefully. Their tongues caressed each other without fighting for dominance, and Syaoran felt his heartbeat speed up. He brought his hand up and lovingly stroked Sakura's face. She whimpered against his lips and kissed him more, thoroughly and sadly. Another tear leaked from her face and landed on his opposite cheek. It felt like it was raining, and Syaoran was being soaked. He wiped the tear away, his lips still connected with hers and finally felt her pull away a moment later. His eyes were still closed, and he let her hold him. She kissed his forehead, his cheek, and his temple. They were soft and subtle kisses, chaste and sweet, something Syaoran rarely experienced before. She made his body come alive, and feel belonged.

He opened his eyes, and locked with shining emerald jewels. They looked watery, and wouldn't budge from his gaze. He smiled gently at her, but her frown only deepened.

"Why are you so blind?" The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them, and he looped both his arms around her waist, pulling her body up against his.

Sakura didn't respond, but she refused to think about what she had just done. That kiss, it wasn't one administered to hurt him, it was done so that she could comfort him. Her tears, she cried for him alone, for his loneliness, not just hers. She cried, thinking that a little boy who had lived such a demanding life, had first given her an impression of a spoilt little brat. He wasn't like that at all, the truth was he wanted to get away from all of it.

She had mistaken him for what he hated to be the most. No wonder he hated her.

But was that still the case?

(0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o)


End file.
